SEN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Bayan Muna party-list representatives yesterday called anew on the Supreme Court to immediately stop the implementation of Republic Act 11954 or the Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023.
In a 25-page reply to the comment filed by the Office of the Solicitor General on their petition seeking to declare the MIF law as unconstitutional, Pimentel and Bayan Muna maintained that the continued implementation of the MIF would cause injustice to the petitioners and the Filipino people in general.
Joining Pimentel in the petition are Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares, and former Bayan Muna party-list representatives Carlos Isagani Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite.
They also argued that the controversial law was enacted despite non-compliance with the legislative process as required by the 1987 Constitution.
“The public will be deprived of billions of public funds that could have been used for education, health, and other social services without a guarantee of financial returns,” they said in their reply to the OSG motion.
“With this, there is an urgent need for this Honorable Court to restrain and enjoin the respondents from further implementing the assailed law, as the continued implementation of the law will result in grave and irreparable injury to the petitioners and the public in general considering the use of billions of public funds,” they added.
To recall, the OSG sought the dismissal of the petition against the MIF, as it held that the issues raised by Pimentel and Bayan Muna would require the receipt of evidence.
The OSG also stressed that the petitioners violated the hierarchy of courts by going directly to the High Court with their petition.
Likewise, the OSG said the claim of the petitioners that President Marcos Jr. abused his discretion when he certified House Bill 6608 and Senate Bill 1670 as urgent has no merit as there have been instances when former presidents issued certificates of urgency to Congress to pass legislation despite the absence of a calamity or emergency.
However, Pimentel and Bayan Muna argued that there are no factual issues for the SC to resolve as the petition involved pure questions of law.
“Hence, direct resort to the Honorable Court is justified in this case considering that this petition involves pure questions of law,” they added.
URGENCY
As to the OSG’s contention that previous presidents have issued certificate of urgency to pass proposed legislation even without a calamity or emergency, the petitioners countered that such practices does not and should not mean that the said constitutional requirements have already been amended.
“The fact that respondents believe that previous Presidents have issued similar certifications despite the absence of any emergency or calamity, only makes it of utmost necessity that this petition be resolved on the merits in order to put a stop once and for all to the Executive’s propensity to dispense with constitutional requirements in order to short cut legislative processes and take out any opposition to an administration bill,” they added.
Pimentel and his co-petitioners also argued that RA 11954 which they described as a “dangerous law” should be voided because it was passed in violation of Section 26 (2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, the test of economic viability as mandated under Section 16, Article XII of the Constitution was not complied with prior to the creation of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), and that it also violates the independence of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as provided for under Section 20, Article XII of the Constitution.
RA 11954 was signed into law by President Marcos Jr. on July 18, 2023.
Proponents of the MIF said it seeks to establish the creation of a sovereign wealth fund by using state assets.
However, due to the controversy it generated, the proposed MIF will not be able to tap the assets of the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System to generate funds.
Aside from the GSIS and SSS, also covered by the prohibition are PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office Pension Fund.
In September 2023, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines said they have remitted P75 billion in contribution to the Maharlika Investment Corporation.
