MANILA (SE): “This administration is failing to address adequately the economic and food crisis that is worsening due to debt burden, climate change, Ukraine War, deglobalisation and corruption. Billions are being wasted in useless presidential travel, bloated confidential/intelligence fund and the Maharlika Investment Fund which are opportunities for graft and corruption,” Redemptorist Father Amado Picardal wrote of the government of Philippine president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in early September.
The surprise announcement that the multi-billion-dollar sovereign wealth fund had been suspended by Marcos came three months after he signed off on the Maharlika Investment Fund Act, which critics said would put public money at risk, UCAN reported on October 18.
Marcos had pushed Congress for swift approval of the proposal for a 500-billion-peso ($8.8-billion) fund, which was filed by his son and cousin late last year.
A statement from office of executive secretary, Lucas Bersamin, said Marcos issued the suspension because he wanted to “study carefully” the rules and regulations dealing with implementation of the law.
The statement said he wanted “to ensure that the purpose of the fund will be realised for the country’s development with safeguards in place for transparency and accountability,” UCAN reported.
The Maharlika Investment Fund is supposed to draw most of its funds from the national government, including the central bank, gaming revenue and two state-owned banks.
The original proposal was for a US$4.9 billion fund that would be partly bankrolled by state-run pensions for government and private-sector workers, sparking public fears that retirement savings could be put at risk.
The final version of the bill approved by Congress in May said pension funds would not have to contribute.
The fund will be allowed to make a wide range of investments, including in corporate bonds, equities, joint ventures and infrastructure projects.
The word “maharlika” is widely associated with Marcos’s late father and namesake, the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who presided over widespread human rights abuses and corruption during his two decades in power. He was ousted in 1986.
Marcos Sr. also claimed to have led an anti-Japanese guerrilla unit called Ang Mga Maharlika [the freedmen] during World War II, but he has been accused of lying about his war record.
