Marcos to sign Maharlika fund bill when he receives it
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. announced Thursday that he will sign the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill as soon as he receives it.
In a press conference held during the 85th anniversary of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Marcos said he will look into the amendments made by lawmakers in a bill that seeks to create the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
“I will sign it as soon as I get it. Am I happy? Well, that is the version that the House and the Senate has passed and we will certainly look into all of the changes that have been made. And I think most of the changes that were proposed and were adopted really had to do with the safety and security of people’s pension funds,” he told reporters.
Senate President Juan Miguel signed the enrolled bill in Washington, DC. The House adopted the Senate version during the bicameral conference committee.
Under the proposed bill, the MIF shall be used to invest in strategic and commercial activities designed to promote fiscal stability for economic development and strengthen the top-performing government financial institutions through additional investment platforms that will help attain the national government’s priority plans.
Marcos stressed that the success of the MIF depends on its management.
He said he earlier proposed to House lawmakers to remove the President, the Department of Finance, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from the MIF board so that the sovereign wealth fund would be an institution independent from the government.
“You know, perhaps we are looking in the wrong direction. The key to the success of any fund, hedge fund, pension fund, sovereign fund, investment fund, is the management. Of course, all of these things can happen. We’ve seen them happen before because the management chose for it to happen,” he said.
“The only way to make sure that we do not get into trouble, the fund does not get into trouble is that it's well and professionally managed. And so, one of the elements that makes that happen is that there is a very clear independence from the day-to-day function. Those decisions are not made by political decisions in the government. The decisions for the fund are made by finance professionals,” he added.
The ratified version of the bill includes a provision that bans state pension and insurancre funds, such as the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Pag-IBIG, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, and Home Development Mutual Fund, from contributing seed to the MIF.
It also provides that individuals who have pending administrative cases linked to fraud, plunder, corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, or any crimes similar to misuse of funds or breach of trust are not allowed to be part of the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC).
Heavier penalties are also imposed on MIC members who are involved in the misuse of funds, graft, and corruption, which include fines of up to P5 million, imprisonment of six years, and perpetual disqualification from public office.
The MIF will also be overseen by a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, Internal Auditor and an External Auditor. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
