A mouse or power play?

The Mountain labored and brought forth a mouse. It is an old Greek proverb. It is one of Aesop's fables.

- TONY LOPEZ

Here is Aesop:

"One day people noticed a Mountain in labor; smoke coming out of its summit, the earth quaking at their feet, trees crashing and huge rocks tumbling. They felt sure something horrible was going to happen. They all gathered together to see what terrible thing this could be. They waited and they waited, but nothing came. Suddenly there was a still more violent earthquake, and a huge gap appeared in the side of the Mountain. The people all fell down upon their knees and waited. At last, a teeny mouse poked its little head and bristles out of the gap and came running down towards them."

Explains Wikipedia: the fable "refers to great promises and great labors that produce little result; in Latin versions, to produce ridiculous results."

Eighteen months ago this week, the Maharlika Investment Fund became a law. MIF is the Philippines' first sovereign fund. Said the Finance Department in July 2023, it is "a timely and necessary measure to unlock the country's growth potential in a period when rising interest rates weigh down global economic prospects, and pandemic-induced widening debt levels limit the capacity of governments to conduct fiscal stimulus." In other words, the money of the people, whose will is sovereign, is to be invested wisely to extract the best yield from a portfolio of options.