[TINDIG]
YOUTH ON MAHARLIKA: A MARCOSIAN BRAND OF CORRUPTION
Student activists and youth groups assembled at the Mendiola Peace Arch to protest the recently-signed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) on Tuesday, July 18, calling it nothing more than a policy in perfect harmony with the “Marcosian brand of corruption.”
The new controversial law, which progressives dubbed as an “investment scam”, was signed by Ferdinand Marcos Jr less than a month after it was submitted by the Congress despite opposition both by experts and the public.
Considered ‘anti-people’ and ‘anti-development’, the MIF garnered strong disapproval from its critics in the academe and progressive organizations.
Kabataan Partylist Secretary General Julius Cantiga said that, “Sa ilalim ng Maharlika Investment Scam, parang ginigripuhan at tinatagasan ang mga pondo na dapat ay nakatuon sa mga mamamayan. Laging paboritong sabihin na limitado ang fiscal space – kaya limitado dahil dito nila gustong gastusin sa isang programang pangsugal at pangscam sa pera ng mamamayan.”
Under the Maharlika Investment Scam, groups at the protest claimed that public funds will be channeled away from public needs. They asserted that although the administration always claims that its fiscal space is limited — what they really mean is that it is limited only because they prioritize using public money in high-risk investments: to scam the Filipino people.
Funds for corruption, not for education
Highlighting how prone the MIF is to mismanagement and corruption, the groups slammed Marcos Jr. for funneling funds into a risky and corruption-prone investment fund instead of using the funds for more important projects, especially for the education sector.
They pointed out that amid tuition hikes for private universities and planned budget cuts for state universities and colleges, Marcos’s administration should not waste valuable resources on a measure that exports see as “beyond repair.”
As 21 leading economists from the UP School of Economics pointed out, the country does not have the resources to fund such an investment fund, and the structure of the fund itself makes it difficult to be certain that it will actually benefit the public.
Moreover, they said that given the absence of regulations that safeguard the policy’s management as well as an evident lack of appropriate resources, the MIF is blatantly corrupt in nature, especially under a Marcos presidency.
As the MIF would give nine Marcos appointees control of over P500 billion, it might become just another “cash cow” for Marcos and his cronies.
While the body promises that these funds will be allocated to development projects, critics ask why the bill only creates another layer of bureaucracy instead of funding projects directly.
The progressive groups exemplified these criticisms in “Maria Maharlika”, a caricatured version of the MIF symbolizing the current Marcos administration’s greed and underlying political and economic interests in the new policy at the expense of neglecting social services and spending on the youth’s education.
“Mag-aral na lang kayo, dahil wala na kayong magagawa. Pipirmahan namin ang biggest scampany – este, company – na limpak na limpak ang tiyak na kikitain namin – este, natin pala,” Maria Maharlika satirically said.
MIF “new name for old tricks”
The protestors also drew parallels between the MIF and Marcos Sr’s., Coco Levy Fund scandal in which he made the same promise of “economic transformation” in the country’s coconut industry. Instead of helping coconut farmers out, however, the Coco Levy due to mismanagement and corruption – exactly how critics fear the MIF will turn out.
In light of these parallels, Anakbayan spokesperson Kate Almenzo ends the Mendiola demonstration, parodying Marcos Jr.’s campaign jingle that “Lumang Pilipinas, lumang mukha, si Bongbong Marcos walang pinagkaiba sa tatay niya–diktador, pasimuno ng neoliberalismo, pasimuno ng kolonyalismo, pasimuno ng pagnanakaw at paglubog sa pagpapahirap sa mga mamamayan.”
With only a few days before Marcos’s second State of the Nation Address, critics say that the problems plaguing the Maharlika Fund – mismanagement and corruption – plague his entire administration.
They say that if he really wants to change direction, he should junk the MIF and use the funds for pro-people policies like healthcare, social services, and education reform instead.
