The MIF will use money from Landbank and DBP – meaning the people’s money—as capital for investments. These can be put in real estate infrastructure or foreign currencies or bonds to earn some profits or returns.
Who are going to manage the fund which, for emphasis, is our money?
It will be done by a board of directors appointed by the President. In short, political appointees. As such, they will be beholden to the appointing power who is a politician. Politics then will surely get into the picture and in our country, this is bad. Mention that word and corruption will surely be not far behind.
How will it be different from what we have now? Investments in infrastructure will mean the same thing. The money will go into the pockets of bureaucrats, politicians and other government officials. As has been estimated, of the funds budgeted for any government infrastructure, only 40% of that, or even less, will reach the ground or will be implemented.
So the Maharlika Investment Fund is just a mumbo jumbo to pool our money to be used under the direction of politicians. Will anything from that fund trickle down to the benefit of ordinary people? Nothing will be different from what is going on now. If nothing is trickling down to your pocket, chances are, nothing will from that fund.
If our leaders really care for the benefit of ordinary people like you and me, money should have been poured into MSMEs which account for more than 80% of the employment in this country. Their expansion will surely mean expansion of employment opportunities that would be immediate. You don’t even have to worry about trickle down economic ideas because once funds go to MSMES, these had already trickled down.
Many supporters will argue the proof of the pudding is in the eating. To counter that we have already seen so many times before how government money or peoples’ money had been misused or abused in the past. What makes you say it will be different this time?**