THE corrected version of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill is now ready to be transmitted to Malacañang for signing of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito.
Ejercito, in an interview with the Senate media, said the Senate Legislative Services office has updated senators that they have finished correcting the clerical and typographical errors in the proposed measure, which was ratified by the Senate before Congress went on sine die adjournment last June 2.
“Let’s wait for the official announcement but we (have already) inquired as to the status (of the MIF bill). But since SP (Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri) is in the US, one of the options is for (Senate) Secretary (Renato) Bantug to bring it there (US) for (Zubiri’s) signature and (then) it will be forwarded to Malacañang,” Ejercito said.
He said the Rules of the Senate mandates that the final copy of the bill should be signed in person by Zubiri, not through digital signature, since it “is an important measure.”
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva earlier said that the approved bill has been forwarded to the Senate Secretariat so that corrections can be made on the clerical and typographical errors, including Sections 50 and 51 of the bill which have different prescription periods.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, and Sen. Francis Escudero have objected to the move, saying that what has been approved on third and final reading in the plenary cannot be touched anymore.
Pimentel had also warned Senate staff members not to alter anything in the proposed measure as only elected lawmakers have the right to do so, adding that changing words supposedly to correct errors is tantamount to “falsification.”
Ejercito assured the three senators that the Senate secretariat did not alter the wordings of the passed bill.
“One thing for sure sa Senate naman we don’t do that. Kung sakali mang nilinis natin ‘yan, inaayos, approved sa floor subject to style. Kung anuman ang haka-haka na may pinalitan, hindi po nangyayari ‘yan sa Senado (One thing for sure is that we don’t do that in the Senate. If ever the bill was cleaned, fixed, this was based on what was approved on the floor subject to style. Rumors that there were things changed remain as such because we don’t do that in the Senate),” he added.
“For sure, the Senate legis (Legislative Service) will do the work, sisiguraduhin na kung ano mapo-forward ay wala nang gusot (But for sure, the Senate Legislative service will do its work. It will make sure that what will be forwarded to Malacañang will be without kinks),” Ejercito said.
PLENARY CORRECTION
Hontiveros said she is clueless as to how the Senate Legislative Service corrected Sections 50 and 51, pointing out that there were not mere “typo errors” but “substantive errors.”
“Hindi ko alam kung naayos. Hindi ko rin maisip paano maaayos kung inaprubahan ng Senado sa third and final reading, kung lumampas sa bicam. Hindi ko malubos maisip kung paano maiwawasto ‘yun (I don’t know if it was corrected. I also cannot figure out how it can be fixed if it was already approved on third and final reading, if it has passed the bicameral conference committee. I don’t know how it can be corrected),” Hontiveros said in a virtual interview.
She insisted that the only way to make the corrections is to withdraw the measure’s approval and bring it back to plenary once Congress resumes sessions on July 24.
“Kailangan ibalik sa Senado para dumaan sa tamang legislative process, according sa Rules of the Senate… Pagbotohan muli pero mag ‘no’ pa rin kami sa minorya. That’s the least the Senate can do na gawing tama ang legislative process (The bill needs to go back to the Senate so it will pass through the proper legislative process, according to the Rules of the Senate… We should put it to a vote again, but we will still vote ‘no’ in the minority. That’s the least the Senate can do to follow the right legislative process),” she said.
“Kung human error man ay error pa rin na dapat iwinasto kung ipasa sa executive. Dahil may substantive errors, bukas ang posibilidad para hamunin ito sa Korte Suprema (If there are human errors, these are still errors that need to be corrected before it is transmitted to the executive. But because these are substantive errors, it can possibly be questioned before the Supreme Court),” she added.
But Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies chaired by Sen. Mark Villar can do the necessary corrections to the measure since it was the one which sponsored the bill.
“Turn to the records. May statement si Sen. Mark na very firm sila sa 10 years (Sen. Mark [Villar] has a statement that they are very firm that the prescriptive period be only up to 10 years),” Angara said in an interview with Senate reporters.
He said the 10-year prescriptive period is very clear during the period of amendments and was approved “subject to style.”
