Says law to be operational within the year
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said the government is eyeing to have the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act “operational before the end of the year” as he clarified that he has not suspended the implementation of the law.
“I was a bit alarmed by the news reports early this morning that I read in the newspapers that we have put the Maharlika Fund on hold. Quite the contrary,” the President said in his speech before leaving for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he will participate in the 2023 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit.
“I would just like to make a comment because one of the important aspects of this trip will be for us to introduce the Maharlika Investment Fund to the rest of the world, more specifically to Middle Eastern countries… The organization of the Maharlika Fund proceeds apace,” he said.
He said Malacañang and economic managers “are just finding ways to make it (MIF) as close to perfect and ideal as possible… We have found more improvements that we can make, specifically to the organizational structure of the Maharlika Fund.”
The Office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, in a statement released on Wednesday, said “President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued a suspension because he wanted to study carefully the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) to ensure that the purpose of the fund will be realized for the country’s development with safeguards in place for transparency and accountability.”
Republic Act 11954, or the Maharlika Investment Fund Act, was signed into law in July. It paves the way for the pooling of funds from government financial institutions such as the Landbank (P50 billion) and Development Bank of the Philippines (P25 billion) to form the MIF which will be invested in high-impact projects especially on infrastructure, among others.
The IRR, which was released in August this year, spells out the guidelines on the management of the MIF and the operations of the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) that will oversee the funds.
The law is targeted for implementation within the year.
The President said improvements being done on the IRR “should not (be) misinterpret(ed) as somehow a judgment on the rightness or wrongness” of the law because the concept of the Maharlika Fund as a sovereign fund or an investment fund remains a “good one.”
“We are just finding ways to make it as close to perfect and ideal as possible. And that was what we have done. This has been in consultation not only with our economic managers but also with the people, the personalities who will actually be involved in the fund. And that’s why their inputs have been very important and that is why we are going to now utilize them to make it a better organization,” he said.
He added that the government is also “very encouraged” by the world’s reaction to the Philippines’ MIF, including those from the Middle East, that it is going down the right path.
The President said he will present the MIF during his visit to Saudi Arabia.
Marcos is set to have bilateral meetings with officials of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as hold a roundtable meeting with business executives from the Gulf region.
REVIEW
In a group message to reporters, Secretary Amenah Pangandaman of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), said the economic team has committed to work with the President in reviewing the IRR of the MIF.
“We subscribe to the wisdom of (the President) in suspending the IRR as this is not just an economic strategy for us but a historic first sovereign investment fund,” Pangandaman said.
“The economic team will work closely with the President to prudently review all provisions line by line and make sure that all things are in order,” she added.
The budget chief said that the economic team will also take the opportunity to engage in more multi-stakeholder groundwork in preparation for the launch of the MIF.
REPEAL
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said the President Marcos should just “repeal” the MIF law instead of pushing through with it.
“Repeal the law!” Pimentel said, reiterating that the law, from the very beginning, is defective and was hurriedly passed by both chambers of Congress.
“Abandon that Maharlika Investment Fund idea for being unclear, unjustified, and untimely,” he added.
Pimentel and former Bayan Muna lawmakers have filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the MIF Law for being unconstitutional as it disregarded the correct legislative process under the 1987 Constitution.
Pimentel reiterated the MIF is “unjustified” since there are no assets to fund it “and the process followed to enact the law is flawed and defective, among other reasons.”
“Nothing can change my mind that it is best for the Philippines that we abandon the MIF project. Repeal the Maharlika law expressly,” he added.
At the House, Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) said President Marcos Jr.’s insistence that the MIF law would still push through despite suspended the implementation of its IRR only “strengthens the argument of its critics especially those that filed at the Supreme Court.”
“There is indeed no need for it to be certified urgent and that it is a financial disaster waiting to happen. We hope that the Supreme Court will decide accordingly,” said the lawmaker who is a member of the militant Makabayan bloc. — With Angela Celis, Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
