SO, what’s the fuss over this Maharlika Sovereign Wealth Fund that people who know nothing about investments are bitching about? As staunch apologist Secretary Ben Diokno declared: Maraming … nagko-comment na hindi pa nababasa ata ‘yung bill eh, so out of ignorance …” In short, read the bill before you whine!
Dismiss the detail that the fund is named after Maharlika, the ostensible guerrilla group led by war hero Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. that the US Army has debunked, and the National Historical Commission has said was “fraught with myths, factual inconsistencies and lies”!
Sen. Risa Hontiveros had to remind everyone: “I get heebie-jeebies whenever I hear the word ‘maharlika.’ It’s part of the legacy of the martial law dictatorship, the mythmaking, to really milk it.” Although it is a non sequitur, she could be right, considering this bill is proposed in Congress by Sandro and Martin, son and cousin, respectively, of BBM.
After six months in the political doldrums, and after the “kapalpakan” of his ex-executive secretary and accusations of a lazy president causing countless unfilled positions in the Cabinet and the bureaucracy, reportedly awaiting a vetting committee of one; he has caused them to file “… a bill seeking to create the fund — one of his administration’s boldest economic plans to date.” Bold! My eye!
Opposition to the fund has since swollen with some critics warning it could wind up as the motherload of all “kurakot schemes”…
