“Running Priest” Fr. Robert Reyes says a street mass in front of the House of Representatives as a protest against the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF), December 9, 2022. The protest calls for the junking of House Bill 6398 creating the MWF, protection of BSP dollar reserves, OFW remittance, and SSS and GSIS contributions which were initially planned to be sourced for the fund.

The bill, authored by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s cousin and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, aims to create “a sovereign wealth fund which will be used by the government to invest in a wide range of outlets such as foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, commercial real estate, and infrastructure projects, among others.”

However, the proposed bill resulted in a public uproar following the MWF’s scheme of using funds from Government Financial Institutions such as GSIS, SSS, Landbank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, and to be supplemented by funds from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other sources. Oppositions to the bill fears the fund is tantamount to “allowing the fox to guard the chicken coup.“

Father Robert lambasted the proposed MWF and other proponents behind the bill such as former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. A long time social and political activist, Father Robert says he could not believe he is – until now – fighting the same faces of corruption in the country.