Marcos himself pushing for Maharlika fund, says Salceda

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself wants Congress to pass a law establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to be made up of pooled funds for investments, Albay Representative Joey Salceda said.

“Utos ng Pangulo ‘to… the President wanted a fund kasi ‘pag may GAA, ‘pag naglagay sila ng pera para sa dams, tinatanggal natin. ‘Pag naglagay tayo ng pera para sa NBN, tinatanggal natin dahil pagkalalaki. ‘Pag naglalagay tayo ng pera para sa grid, tinatanggal natin,” Salceda, an economist, said in Tina Panganiban-Perez’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday.

The proposal, contained in House Bill 6398, aims to maximize investible state assets for improvement of social services. 

On Thursday, the bill, whose authors include Speaker Martin Romualdez and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, breezed through the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries less than a week after it was filed.

Other authors of the measure are House Majority Leader Manuel Jose
“Mannix” M. Dalipe, senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander
A. Marcos, Tingog party-list Reps. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude
A. Acidre, and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo.

Under the measure, the MIF will have an initial fund of P250 billion sourced primarily from the Government Service Insurance System (P125 billion), Social Security System (P50 billion), Land Bank of the Philippines (P50 billion), and Development Bank of the Philippines (P25 billion).

The bill also mandates Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, among other government instrumentalities, to pitch to the MIF.

It also provides that “sums thereafter necessary for additional contributions of the national government will be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or supplemental appropriations, as the case may be, subject to budget preparation process and authorization by Congress.”

Under the proposal, the President is authorized to appoint two independent directors to the board of the Maharika Investments Corporation, which will operationalize the disbursement and management of the MIF.

“So the Maharlika fund is what we are setting up or what you called sovereign wealth fund. Ang ating mga kapitbahay sa Asia ay meron na, kapag kumikita ka dyan the profit will be used to finance government projects na nakukulangan ng pondo. It will be run like a private corporation,” Rep. Marcos said.

Several lawmakers, however, questioned the proposed establishment of the fund.

ACT party-list Rep. France Castro asked whether the SSS, have extra or reserve funds.  If so, why can't the state agency provide for the additional pension of the country's senior citizens.

“Iyan ang hinanakit ng puso ko dahil pwede tayong magtapon ng ganito at ilagay natin sa risk ‘yung pondo ng ating mga members, and yet, hindi n’yo mabigyan ng pension itong mga nakatatanda natin, additional na pension," Castro said.

House Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza also warned that the bill's provisions give the President too much control on where public funds should go.

“Funding a wealth fund from the GAA first usurps the power of the House. And you, guys, know how it is. Hindi naman tayo makakapalag sa President ‘pag gusto ilagay P50 billion from the budget wealth fund,” Daza said.

“We will put that in our minds,” Salceda added.

The House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries will conduct consultations on Monday on those who will be possibly affected by the bill such as the contributors of GSIS.

The bill will be submitted to the House committee on ways and means and committee on appropriations for a separate deliberation.

At the Senate, Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the proposed MIF will undergo rigorous scrutiny in the chamber, as there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, including the government’s capability to fund it and the issue of transparency.

Based on the bill, the wealth fund use will be subject to the scrutiny of the Commission on Audit.  A congressional oversight committee will also be formed to review it.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said that a former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor recommended the establishment of the investment fund which is similar to other countries in Asia.

“Usually ang source ng sovereign wealth fund is yung mga deplete resource like in Norway yung oil ganun, at some point madedeplete yun so they are slowly setting aside. Dapat siguro for example yung Malampaya dapat part of that should have been set aside for a natural wealth fund, we have open mining so part of the royalty should go to that wealth fund,” Diokno had said.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA Integrated News