House Ways and Means chairperson and Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda on Wednesday called on the Marcos administration’s economic managers to “commit to listing Maharlika Investment Fund in the stock markets here and abroad.”
“The best way to make it work is through the capital markets. Make Maharlika a listed company. List it secondarily in other stock markets abroad. Engage World Bank, ADB, and other international banks as strategic partners. That will increase oversight of the bank. More people will want more information before they invest. It will increase transparency,” Salceda said in a statement.
Salceda said the final version which was sent to the President is silent about public listing, but it implies it. “I hope for a more explicit plan of action in the implementing rules and regulations. This can’t be just another GOCC,” Salceda added.
Salceda said that listed companies are “subject to stricter disclosure standards. That is why, in the House version, we expressly discussed and envisioned eventual public listing. It was in all the presentations. It was in all the discussions. And we believed it to be a very strong safeguard.”
Salceda added the other corporate safeguards, “including that independent directors be a third of all board members, were designed to prepare MIF for public listing. Even companies with legislative franchises are required to list publicly.”
Salceda also said that the MIF could “improve the lackluster performance of the Philippine Stock Exchange Index”
Former senate president and justice secretary Franklin M. Drilon meanwhile emphasized the clear and explicit prohibition set by Congress, which strictly prohibits state-run pension and insurance funds from investing in the MIF.
“The intention is crystal clear. Funds held in trust by the government, through these GOCCs, cannot be invested in the MIF,” Drilon stressed.
“The prohibition is absolute and leaves no room for ambiguity,” he added.
He cited the specific provisions outlined in the proposed measures, including Section 6, paragraph 2 and Section 12, which explicitly prohibit government agencies, GOCCs, and pension funds from investing in the MIF.
Drilon strongly disagreed with the statements made by economic managers suggesting that the SSS and GSIS may still invest in projects administered by the Maharlika Investment Corporation, not in the corporation itself.
He said the government should respect the boundaries and legislative intent established by Congress regarding the prohibition.
“The provisions would protect public funds held in trust from undue exposure or risks associated with the establishments of a state-owned investment fund,” Drilon noted. With Macon Ramos-araneta
