The MIF as fiscal relief

fiscal burden of the national government by way of reduced budget deficit and lower borrowings.

seen as signs Japan is warming to the protection of LGBTQ rights.

But activists warn of a dark side.

They say recent months have seen a rising tide of hateful online rhetoric, particularly targeting transgender women.

Disinformation “linking transgender women to sexual violence in public spaces” is being “disseminated extremely widely,” the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation warned earlier this year. The experience has been painful and even frightening for transgender women such as Minori Tokieda.

“We are portrayed as some kind of sex offenders—physically male people who would invade women’s spaces by claiming they’re female,” the activist told AFP.

Many in her community are “deeply hurt” and “feeling in denial of our own existence—it’s a serious situation”, she added.

The thorny question of how to balance transgender rights with the protection of female spaces has already divided opinion in countries including Britain and the United States.

It has arrived only more recently in Japan, fueled in part by contentious debate around anti-

IMF and the World Bank. The first to challenge was the New Development Bank, with headquarters in Shanghai, China.

They contend it is a “new” multilateral development bank which offers an alternative to the financial institutions like WB and the IMF.

The concept of the de-dollarization or the abandonment in the use of the dollar as the international currency resulted in the stampede in abandoning of the dollar.

Earlier on Feb. 8, 2023, Japan sold a net ¥15.7 trillion of US bonds and ¥1.8 trillion of French securities, both all-time highs.

The fear is that China might just dump altogether its US TBs.

The demand by Yellen for China to buy back 830 billion worth of US TBs is preposterous.

Common sense will tell that the price of treasury bonds fluctuates.

This underscores why owners of the TBs cannot be prohibited from disposing them as they wish.

Probably, China reduced its investment in US TBs because the US dollar is declining in value like the rumor that some countries are about to replace the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

China has all the reasons to dump the dollar if it feels its currency will lose its value.

On the second demand for China to lift its counter-sanctions to the US, sad to say, amounts to extortion which cannot be done in civilized business transaction.

China’s counter-sanctions on US (export restrictions on two rare metals indispensable for the making of high-end chips, etc.) is China’s move to restrict the exports of two metals crucial for making some types of semiconductors and electric vehicles, a warning that China will not be passively squeezed out of the global supply chain.

In an editorial published, the Chinese state media said the imposition of controls on exports of some gallium and germanium products was a “practical way” of telling the U.S. and its allies that their efforts to curb China from procuring more advanced technology was a “miscalculation.”

It also argued that China had for years exploited its own rare earth resources at the expense of the environment to supply the global semiconductor industry.

“Under such circumstances, why can’t China make the necessary adjustments and be more cautious about consuming its limited rare-earth resources to support those that have been sided with the US-led “decoupling” push from China?” it said.

The controls do not mean that China will ban exports of the metals but authorities will have the right to reject export applications if the products involve military use or are used in scenarios that may undermine China’s national security and interests.

Analysts saw this as a response to escalating efforts by Washington to curb China’s technological advances.

The demand for China not to support Russia is classic to US practice of unilateralism. Can the US and its NATO Allies not admit they are engaged in war with Russia?

Maybe some would prefer to call the war they are waging a proxy war, but just the same, the US and its NATO allies continue to support the Ukrainians to their death, though totally given a different interpretation and meaning to justify the pursuit of a proxy war.

In this sense, the US cannot wholly blame Russia or much more point to China as a party supporting that proxy war.

Remember that Russia and China have a strategic alliance, and this makes China obligated to support Russia.

It is no longer a case of who initiated the war but of the truth that both sides are openly supporting a protagonist to the conflict.

(rpkapunan@gmail.com) discrimination legislation that passed this year.

The law proposed to enshrine the concept of self-identified gender and “promote understanding” toward sexual minorities.

But opponents denounced it as an open invitation for men masquerading as women to infiltrate spaces such as women’s toilets.

And in a nation famed for its public bathing culture, rumors swirled that it might allow men to soak naked with women by simply declaring themselves female. ‘Wannabe woman’

“If I were a pervert, I would roam around (in a locker room) exposing my penis—I’d be forgiven because I’m a ‘woman at heart,’ right?” read one representative post on Twitter.

The controversy was only heightened by a Supreme Court ruling last week in favor of a transgender bureaucrat whose access to female toilets at work was restricted.

The online backlash was swift, with opponents using terms like “jisho josei” (wannabe women).

Japan has a mixed record on the rights of sexual minorities.

While outright violence is unusual and no law bars same-sex relationships, it is the only G7 country that does not recognise same-sex

It should register returns from these investments to make it viable and sustainable over a long period.

Oil-rich Norway put up such a fund in 1990—Government Pension Fund Global— and became the largest in the world with assets of over $1 trillion as of August 2020. It invests in equities, fixed-income instruments and real estate. It is a successful fund with a return of 19.9 percent a year, led by equity investments with earnings of 26 percent.

The MIF will be structured in such a way to earn returns and dividends for investors who contributed to the kitty.

The government through competent managers will run the sovereign fund and make sure it is always liquid to finance its investment objectives, including big-ticket infrastructure projects. Infrastructure projects will earn profits

IN PREVIOUS columns, I compared our expectations from SONA 2022 versus the reality we experienced under BBM’s leadership.

I also mentioned the new campaign they launched called “Bagong Pilipinas.”

But what do we really need to make a New Philippines? Based on the People’s Summit’s One-Year Assessment, here are things the Filipinos hope to hear during SONA 2023 for a genuine New Philippines for the MIF, just like the toll roads that are now registering revenues for private sector companies. The MIF can roll over the return on investments to fund its next projects or investments. But beyond the return on investments, the sovereign wealth fund will ease the

On the economy, we have been bearing the brunt of rapid inflation.

Rising prices must be addressed. This can also be aided by supporting the national minimum wage. Contractualization should also be ended as it impedes workers’ rights.

In agriculture, we have yet to see the revitalization of local agriculture. With this revitalization, we must prioritize food production over the importation of agricultural products.

If we want our economy to grow, the government must also promote local industrialization and support Filipinoowned industries. This will stimulate local job creation instead of promoting labor exportation.

On human rights, violations have continued under BBM. He has not ended Duterte’s drug war.

Extrajudicial killings outside of the drug war have also persisted; 53 were recorded in the counterinsurgency campaign since July 2022.

Political prisoners must be released; there are 775 as of June 2023. They must also surface the disappeared and provide support for the families. In BBM’s first year, there are already eight cases. BBM should also resume peace talks with the NDFP and address the root of the armed conflict. Additionally, they should cease the militarization and bombing of communities.

Civil rights must be respected and upheld, together with academic freedom and gender equality. All of these can be addressed if we institute judicial reforms in relation to international and national human rights norms.

Lastly, the president must publicly apologize for the atrocities that his father and family committed during martial law.

On good governance, there must be transparency and accountability in the government.

There should be a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and unethical governance.

Effective public participation on budget processes are also necessary.

This ensures that the taxpayers’ money is going to the correct place.

In the past year, the huge amount of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) of the President and the CIF for the Vice President were opposed but were approved anyway.

If BBM is serious about establishing a New Philippines, he must realize that it is more than just branding

These violate the principles of accountability and transparency.

On media and freedom of expression, in the past year, BBM’s administration has evidently attempted to suppress press freedom and our freedom of expression.

Critics and journalists have continuously been red-tagged. According to the 2022 Global Impunity Index, the Philippines is the seventh most dangerous country for journalists.

Attempts to curtail press freedom and freedom of expression must be junked if we want truth to prosper in the New Philippines.

On foreign policy, BBM must make a firm stance on our national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We must not let other troops use our land for military exercises such as the Balikatan joint exercises.

We must also assert the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration under the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea or UNCLOS regarding the West Philippine Sea.