As the battle shifts to the Senate after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a former official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has called on the public to amplify its objections to the measure. Diwa Guinigundo, BSP deputy governor until 2019, said that while the...
‘Maharlika Wealth Fund’: wrong in principle, thus beyond repair
Let us reflect on process and progress. The more common source of failure to progress is “circling”—moving round and round in circles, only to arrive at the original location. Many things have been said about the proposed “Maharlika Wealth Fund” (MWF). Now the framers are scrambling to make the legislation enabling it, House Bill No....
‘Maharlika Wealth Fund’ is uniting Filipinos in resisting it
The cost of administering the Maharlika Investments Fund (MIF), the Philippines’ sovereign wealth fund to be established should the bill seeking its creation be passed into law, is alarming many Filipinos. Its ability to generate the “consistent and stable investment returns” that its proponents tout is also raising loud questions. One wonders how the Fund...
‘On the Job: The Missing 8’ is not a sequel but an altogether different story
I’ll cut to the chase. John Arcilla does more than a good job in “On the Job: The Missing 8”; he gives nothing less than a masterclass in acting in the role that’s front and center in a sprawling sociopolitical dramatic thriller about the labyrinthine corruption in Philippine politics and media. If that sounds like the...
Peace and the FVR presidency
In my assessment of the peace process during a conference examining the Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) presidency, I gave his administration the grade of 6 out of 10. Looking back at that event organized by then University of the Philippines president Jose “Pepe” Abueva, since deceased, I concede that it was a stingy grade. It...
From fish vendor to town mayor
I was in Dolores, Eastern Samar, a few weeks ago and had a chance to take a photo of the new mayor of the third-class municipality (annual income: P15-20 million) facing the Pacific Ocean, on a billboard near the port. The story of Rodrigo “Onoy” Rivera, 62, a fish vendor who became mayor, is one...