STUDENT ADJUDICATOR - NEGATIVE SIDE

PRACTICABILITY SPEAKER: QUEENIE ANGUELID

BENEFICIALITY SPEAKER : ERVIA INDING
CONSTITUTIONALITY SPEAKER: RUPERT ANDRE VILLANUEVA

MOTION : This house supports the creation of P250-billion sovereign wealth fund to
raise revenues for the cash-strapped government.

OPEN ADJUDICATION : The negative team started strong with the practicality of the
proposition ,however, it ended weak because of lack of provisions and court decisions that
will strengthen their claim. Furthermore, I commend the coherency and oneness of the
team’s argument. Moreover, as suggested by the Chief Adjudicator, I also think that there’s
a room for improvement for the the context of the interpellation questions and the way that
the cross-examination should be delivered.

POSITION:

Although the term "sovereign wealth fund" (SWF) is relatively new, the idea behind it is
not. Some nations employ the extra cash they have on hand to manufacture more currency.
Profits from the production of mineral resources like oil could provide for this. Or it might
result from responsible expenditure that results in financial savings. The leasing or sale of
state-owned property, such as land, may also generate surplus revenue. In our situation, the
idea is to create a seed fund of P275 billion ($5 billion) from assets of state-owned banks
like Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines as well as pension funds
handled by the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System. If it
had not been squandered, the Malampaya Fund would have been a good starting point for
such a fund. I personally think that, both such public workers and legislation that safeguard
the separation of powers do not lack in our nation. However, political pressure frequently
silences our professional officials, and politics often easily overrides the legal system. In
that regard, we are more like Malaysia: in order to hold those responsible for major
wrongdoing accountable, a regime change is absolutely necessary. We're not ready for an
SWF for a variety of reasons.

In order to combat transnational white collar crimes, we must ensure that the legal system is
prepared, equipped, and given the necessary resources to impose complete transparency and
accountability not only within our state but also through our connections with other banks
legal systems. If the (sovereign wealth fund) is deployed without having the requisite
capability, implementation mechanisms, and ironclad legal structures in place, it can end up
being the nightmare that everyone anticipated it would be.