Pimentel on Villanueva's remark of 'cleaning up' MIF provisions: 'Not OK'

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday issued a statement after Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva made a remark that the secretariat is still “cleaning up the bill and finalizing the typographical errors" of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill after it has already passed the third reading in the Senate and adopted at the House of Representatives. 

Villanueva earlier said that he expects the MIF bill to reach Malacanang this week for the president's signature after it has been cleared of "clerical errors."

“Naku, wag nilang gawin yan (They should not do that). It is ‘not ok’ and may even amount to a crime if words are changed to ‘perfect’ a bill, as the perfecting exercise should have been done on the floor only by the elected members of the Senate,” the minority leader said in a text message to reporters.

He explained that it is the privilege of a senator to amend the bill and “no unelected staff should be allowed to change the work of the elected members of the Senate.”

According to Pimentel, changing the section numbers of the bill may be allowed but changing the words and content of the version approved on third and final reading "will amount to falsification."

“Mawalan ng meaning ang word na ‘final’ if puwede pa palang galawin ng iba. (The meaning of the word 'final' will not make sense any more if the staff can still change it). They (staff) cannot change the entries like delete some words or add new words. They cannot change meanings or nullify some expressed idea. They are not allowed to replace their ideas for the words of the senators,” he said.

“Pag sabi nila na approved na ang final version then that’s it, that is the final version,” he added.

(When they say the final version was already approved, then that's it. That should really be the final version.)

Villanueva, meanwhile, clarified that there was nothing "added" or "amended" to the bill. 

"There’s no such thing as amending, deleting, or adding to what the  members of the Senate intend to pass during that particular committee and individual amendments na nangyari sa floor,” said Villanueva in a message to GMA News Online. 

"At the end of the day, it has to reflect what was the essence of this particular provision, in this case Section 50 and 51 that we’re talking about," added Villanueva. 

The final version of the MIF bill contained two sections with different number of years as prescription period.

One section of the MIF bill provides a 10-year prescription period for crimes punishable under the measure, while another section of the same bill provides for a 20-year prescription period.

But Villanueva said Senator Mark Villar, sponsor of the measure in the Senate, is firm on the 10-year prescription period for crimes specified in the bill.

Villanueva recalled that the proposed amendment which set the prescription period at 20 years was rejected and not carried in the bill that was approved by the Senate.

Acknowledging there were errors in the bill, Villanueva said they are “only human” and these typographical errors are normal especially when the measure was passed during wee hours. —VAL, GMA Integrated News