THE IDEA of putting up a sovereign wealth fund is shaky as some observers say. It is as ambitious as that of Malaysia's which caused the downfall of former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife. Both are now in prison serving long sentences.
Already, eyebrows have been raised in skepticism over the feasibility of having huge funds sourced from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance Systemm Land Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines plus other pension funds willing to take the risk over time.
Already also, pensioners of SSS and GSIS are mulling to protest vigorously over the use of their hard-earned money pooled as their lifetime pensions. They objected because they earned pensions would be invested on some shady deals and become lost in the process.
Columnist Manuel Quezon III mentioned similar proposals in the past by Senator Bam Aquino in 2016 and Senator JV Ejercito in 2018, but their proposals did not materialize.
Some keen observers brought out the corruption-tainted Malampaya windfall funds and believe this gargantuan investment fund will surely suffer the same fate.
Take note of how Pinoys propose: first, the idea is nice sounding and the brains behind it are okay. Then, the implementation. After only a month or two, the whole structure crumbles and the brains behind scramble to hide carrying big chuncks of the cash and later disappear into thin air. Waley, nada.
* * *
Re. Joey Salceda of Albay roots for the establishment of the euphemistically titled Maharlika Sovereign Wealth Fund. An apologist for PBBM, he sees no wrong in establishing the fund. But the Presidential sister, Senator Imee Marcos is against the idea and we are inclined to believe her for good reasons.
Is the Philippines ready for its own sovereign fund?, she asked, adding that the country's neighbor Malaysia experienced economic disaster when the IMDB was ransacked
As it is, there are more pressing things to address, yeah?