MARATHON plenary deliberations and interpellations for the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will start by May 15, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday said.
Zubiri said this was the timeline given to him by Sen. Mark Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies, who sponsored the proposed bill last March 20 after three weeks of committee hearings.
“Yes, the Maharlika bill is set on track. Kausap ko si Sen. Mark Villar kahapon (I was able to talk with Sen. Mark Villar yesterday [Tuesday, May 2]. He told me that he will be ready for the marathon deliberations and interpellations by May 15,” Zubiri said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.
He said the debates are expected to last for two weeks, and “hopefully” the Senate will pass its version of the proposed measure by the end of the month.
“Before the first week of June, bago mag sine die, nag bicam na po sila at meron na tayong ratified version (Before the first week of June, before [Congress goes on] sine die [adjournment on June 3], the bicam can convene and we will have a ratified version [of the proposed measure]),” Zubiri added.
Last March 20, Villar sponsored Committee Report No. 58 which recommended the approval of Senate Bill No. 2020, the upper chamber’s version of the measure proposing the establishment of the MIF as “the Philippines’ first ever sovereign fund designed to catalyze economic development by mobilizing government financial assets that are otherwise limited in use by current legal frameworks.”
Amid skepticisms against the proposal, Villar assured the public that all documents about the MIF and its transactions will be “open, available, and accessible to the public.”
He likewise said an internal auditor will be tapped to provide interim financial and management reports and enjoin an internationally recognized auditing firm to serve as external auditor to audit MIF’s financial statements.
He added the Fund’s books will be subjected to “strict examination” of the Commission on Audit to allay fears that the funds will be misused.
Villar also said that a joint congressional panel will be created with five members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives to oversee, monitor, and evaluate the implementation of the MIF.
Exemptions from privileges were likewise deleted from the original version of the MIF as filed by Villar.
Under the Senate committee’s version, initial capitalization for the MIF will be investible funds of the Land Bank of the Philippines (around 3.7 percent), and Development Bank of the Philippines (some 3 percent), contributions from the national government, including dividend remittances of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, national government shares in the earnings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, proceeds from privatization and transfer of assets, and other sources such as royalties and special assessments.
“The involvement of these GFIs (government financial institutions) as contributors to the initial seed fund is reasonable and will not cut out the other lending obligations that they need to fulfill under their respective mandates,” Villar said.
“In fact, the expected return of Maharlika, which is estimated to be around 8.6 percent on average, is much higher than their cost of capital and the return in their current investment placements,” he added.
