SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday expressed confidence the Supreme Court (SC) will uphold the constitutionality of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023 (Republic Act 11954) and held that Congress had the nation’s best interest in mind and took no shortcuts in examining the provisions of the measure.
The House leader issued the statement a day after Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares and former militant lawmakers Carlos Isagani Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite challenged the constitutionality of the creation of the sovereign wealth fund.
Romualdez said the petitioners acted within their rights in mounting the legal challenge even as he voiced confidence that the MIF Act can withstand judicial scrutiny.
“We respect the democratic process and the right of every individual to seek legal redress.
The House of Representatives, under my leadership, has always prioritized the observance of legislative procedures and adherence to the Constitution,” Romualdez said.
He also said: “We trust the wisdom of the Supreme Court to evaluate the merits of the petition and to arrive at a just and fair decision. We are prepared to cooperate fully with the Court and to provide any necessary clarifications.”
The petitioners have sought an injunction from the High Court against the implementation of RA 11954 and asked it to declare the law void for being in conflict with Section 26 (2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution.
They likewise challenged the legality of the creation of the Maharlika Investment Corp (MIC) for non-compliance with the test of economic viability and breaching the independence of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Named respondents in the petition are Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
Romualdez stood by the government position that the MIF will drive economic growth, address poverty, and create job opportunities for Filipinos.
He likewise stressed that amendments made to the measure were “not uncommon” as part of the legislative mill, insisting that these were done within constitutional bounds and established procedures.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said that government should “slow down” in transferring funds to the MIF pending the decision of the SC on its constitutionality.
Hontiveros noted that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) have already remitted P50 billion and P25 billion, respectively, to the MIF even as key officials of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), which will manage the MIF, has yet to be named.
“Hindi pa nga nila nabubuo at nare-recruit ang kanilang senior staff, eh ito na, nag-transfer na ng malalaking pondo (They have yet to recruit [MIC’s] senior staff, but they [government agencies] have already transferred huge funds [to the MIF]),” Hontiveros told CNN Philippines.
Hontiveros said the government should be cautious in transferring funds to the MIF since the sources of funds — the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, among others — have a different mandate under their respective charters.
The LBP’s mandate, she pointed out, was to ensure rural development, while the DBP is mandated to ensure national development programs.
She added that the LBP has an unresolved issue on its organizational structure “from its prior merger with Cocobank (United Coconut Planters Bank).”
“Dapat maghinay-hinay sa paglipat ng ganyang kalalaking pondo from government banks, from government financial institutions that have different mandates from this new creation of the Maharlika They should slow down from transferring big amounts of funds from government financial institutions that have different mandates from this new creation of the Maharlika),” she also said. — With Raymond Africa
