SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday said he has personally signed the ratified version of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC where he is currently on a working visit.
In a statement, Zubiri said the clean copy of the proposed legislation was handed to him by Sen. Francis Tolentino and Senate Secretary Renato Bantug who followed the Senate leader to the United States as part of his contingent.
A group of senators led by Zubiri are in Washington to meet with their counterpart American lawmakers.
Aside from the MIF bill, Zubiri said he also signed the ratified versions of the Estate Tax Amnesty Extension and the measure recognizing Baler in Aurora as the birthplace of Philippine surfing.
“The Maharlika bill is a priority measure, and the Estate Tax Amnesty Extension is very time sensitive. Marami nang naghihintay sa mga bills na ito (Many are already waiting for these bills). Fortunately, the enrolled (ratified) copies were already prepared by the time Secretary Bantug was set to join us in Washington,” Zubiri said.
“So, he (Bantug) was able to bring them along with him, instead of letting them sit in the Senate waiting for my return, and I was able to sign them on Philippine soil here in the embassy,” he added.
Zubiri said the ratified version of the bill which he signed will be transmitted to the House of Representatives for the signature of Speaker Martin Romualdez, after which it will be forwarded to Malacañang for final approval of President Marcos Jr.
When asked how the clerical and typographical errors, including the different prescription periods stated in Sections 50 and 51 of the bill, were corrected, Zubiri said: “I believe the corrections were thoroughly discussed by the majority bloc in our Viber group, including… corrections sent by Senator Mark Villar.”
Villar is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Banks which led committee discussions and sponsored the proposal to put up a sovereign wealth fund to boost investments in government projects.
The MIF bill was ratified by the Senate before Congress took a sine die break on June 2. It was certified as urgent by the President, which allowed senators to waive the three-day rule in between the second and third approval for bills to be passed.
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva has earlier said that the approved bill was forwarded to the Senate Secretariat for corrections of clerical and typographical errors, including Sections 50 and 51 of the bill which prescribed different prescription periods for offenses committed in relation to the management of the MIF.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, and Sen. Francis Escudero have warned that only elected lawmakers can correct “substantive errors” in bills that have been approved on third and final reading in plenary.
Pimentel said that Senate staff members cannot do corrections as this would be tantamount to “falsification.”
Minority senators and government critics have been opposing the passage of the MIF bill, pointing out there is no “national emergency” which warrants its creation and because the government does not have excess or a surplus of funds to use as seed money for the sovereign wealth fund.
‘VIBER LEGISLATION’
At the House, the militant Makabayan bloc slammed Zubiri for the approval of the “corrected” version of the bill, saying it was unconstitutional.
“This bill is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to push for legislation via Viber groups, which is unconstitutional and a blatant disregard for the democratic process,” the group said in a statement. “How can this be? Last time we checked, the Constitution does not allow legislation by Viber.”
Party-list Reps. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela, France Castro of ACT, and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan said the bill, as passed by both houses of Congress, with amendments by the Senate and accepted by the House, “cannot be changed or modified by mere discussion in the Viber group of the Senate majority bloc.”
The militant lawmakers said what senators did was to make “a mockery of the constitutional requirement of transparency when the legislature deliberates on and approves laws.”
“We call on Senate President Zubiri to immediately retract his approval of this corrected bill and to ensure that proper procedures are followed in the legislative process. We also call on our fellow lawmakers to remain vigilant and to defend our democratic institutions from any attempts to undermine them,” the Makabayan Bloc added.
The group warned that they “will not hesitate to take legal action if necessary to ensure that the democratic process is upheld and that the interests of the Filipino people are protected.”
“We will not allow this kind of legislative shortcut to continue, especially when it involves public funds and the welfare of our fellow citizens,” it said. — With Wendell Vigilia
