Speaker Martin Romualdez on Sunday said transparency is among the key safeguards that the House of Representatives incorporated in the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill to prevent the misuse of the sovereign wealth fund.
The bill was approved on third and final reading on Dec. 15, with an overwhelming vote of 279 in favor and six against, and no abstentions after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified it as urgent.
“During the lengthy and exhaustive plenary deliberations on House Bill 6608, we adopted various safeguards to ensure we can achieve the objectives of the Maharlika Investment Fund, and one of such is a provision to ensure transparency on relevant financial matters pertaining to the MIF,” Romualdez said.
Under the approved HB 6608, a provision specifically stated that the public can exercise the right to freedom of information regarding MIF financial matters.
A member of the opposition, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, proposed the provision during the period of individual amendments in the plenary deliberation on the measure.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the technical working group on HB 6608, said such a safeguard is embodied in Section 29 of the bill under consideration, but he agreed to accept the amendment proposed by the Makabayan bloc member.
“The third reading version now creates an MIF that is significantly more transparent and accountable than the committee report. I am proud of the work of the Technical Working Group, which included recommendations from the minority,” he said.
Under Section 43 of the approved HB 6608, all documents of the MIF and the Maharlika Investment Corp.— the independent body created to manage the fund — shall be open, available, and accessible to the public.
HB 6608 called for the establishment of the MIF to promote economic development by making strategic and profitable investments in key sectors.
It also earmarked at least 25 percent of the net profits of the MIC for social welfare programs.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) voiced its support for the MIF, saying this will contribute to the growth of the capital markets.
PSE, in a statement sent over the weekend, said the approved House Bill No. 6608, which calls for the establishment of sovereign wealth fund, will have compounding effects that would generate more fund-raising activities.
“The PSE’s primary mission is to facilitate the flow of capital into more productive and beneficial channels and as a result contribute to efficient capital formation for the country,” PSE president and chief executive Ramon S. Monzon said.
“Since MIF seeks to attract and invest capital for big-ticket infrastructure projects, sustainable green and blue infrastructures and countryside development, we believe these investments will create a multiplier effect that would attract more fund-raising activities and portfolio investments and in turn contribute to the growth and development of the our capital markets,” he added.
Other business groups and academics have criticized the MIF and questioned the wisdom of having a sovereign wealth fund when the government has no surplus funds.
An early plan to include the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) as contributors to the proposed MIF was scrubbed after strong opposition from members.
The MIF would still get a P50-billion contribution from the Land Bank of the Philippines, P25 billion from the Development Bank of the Philippines, and P25 billion from the National Treasury.
The proposed measure states that the fund shall be used to invest on a strategic and commercial basis in a manner designed to promote fiscal stability for economic development and strengthen the top-performing government financial institutions (GFIs) through additional investment platforms that will help attain the national government’s priority plans.
The proposed sovereign wealth fund is patterned after the SWFs of 49countries including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and East Timor.
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