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The government has put in place adequate safety nets in the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said on Saturday.

In a media forum in Quezon City, De Leon stated that Congress has put in place several safety nets to ensure that the use of the MIF would be transparent and would not be mismanaged.

“Unang-una na nga po dito, nagkaroon na rin po tayo ng oversight ng Congress. Meron po tayo noong external auditor, meron ding internal auditor tapos iyon po, magsa-submit din ng mga financial reports iyon pong—ang MIC (Maharlika Investment Corporation),” she said.

“Ang pinaka importante rin pong probisyon dito, iyon pong mga social security institutions natin like GSIS, SSS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth. They’re prohibited from investing in the fund and in the corporation so iyon po ang talagang nailagay po rin dito sa provision dito sa Senado,” she added, noting that the MIF will be investing in sustainable endeavors.

She said other safeguards in the law regarding the use of MIF include a regular audit to look into the financial performance of the MIF.

“Plus magri-report po sa oversight committee. May seven members each po ang Lower House saka ang Upper House doon po sa Joint Oversight Committee to see on the viability and the financial performance of the MIC and the MIF,” she pointed out, adding that the members of the oversight body will be named by Congress.

De Leon also pointed out that government financial institutions (GFIs) in the country have ample resources to support the MIF.

“Nakita po natin na ang Landbank and Development Bank of the Philippines, mayroon din po silang mga investible funds. Like nga po ang Landbank, they have 1.3 trillion (pesos) investible funds. Ang ini-infuse lang po nila dito sa Maharlika is 50 billion (pesos). So that’s just roughly three percent,” she noted.

“Even po iyong DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines), 850 billion (pesos) po iyong kanilang investible funds. Ang i-invest lang po nila 25 billion (pesos) so maybe another 3 percent,” de Leon added.

She cited that even countries with no current account surplus such as Indonesia, India and Vietnam, have established their so-called sovereign wealth funds to strengthen and support their priority development projects.

“Indonesia po, naglagay po siya ng tinatawag ng sovereign wealth fund nila. si INA (Indonesia Investment Authority). But si Indonesia, like the Philippines, they are also operating on a fiscal deficit din – nag-contribute po ng $2 billion ang government of Indonesia to setup iyon pong si INA at nag-transfer rin po siya ng mga assets worth $3 billion dollars. So, kahit na po operating on a deficit si Indonesia, iyon pong government in their budget also provided $2 billion as capitalization for INA,” the National Treasurer said.

During the deliberations in Congress, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. certified as “urgent” the MIF, a sovereign wealth fund that will be used to invest in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, commercial real estate and infrastructure projects.

MIF is also a vehicle for economic growth, which is aligned with the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework and 8-point Socio-Economic Agenda of the Marcos administration. Presidential News Desk