Only the signature of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is needed on the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Bill before it is transmitted to Malacanang.
Deputy Senate Majority Floor Leader JV Ejercito told reporters Tuesday that the enrolled copy of the bill is ready for the signature of the Senate President.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can then either sign the measure into law or veto the MIF Bill, which he earlier certified as urgent.
Once signed by Zubiri, who has yet to return from an official trip to the United States, the enrolled bill will be transmitted to the Palace.
Ejercito admitted it took the Senate some time to fix the inconsistent provisions on the prescriptive period for the prosecution of crimes and offenses in the bill.
In the final copy of the Senate version of the bill, l Section 50 prescribes a 10-year period while Section 51 sets it at 20 years.
Ejercito said this problem was fixed and a clean bill will be forwarded to Malacañang.
“It was fixed first… subject to style comma, grammar, numbering,” he said.
However, Ejercito guaranteed that the essence of the bill as approved by the Senate was not changed.
“We cannot change the very essence of the bill because what has been approved on the floor is what will be forwarded to Malacañang,” he added.
Ejercito also said that the Senate is “definitely proud” of ratifying the MIF bill after the House of Representatives concurred to the Senate version during the bicameral conference.
“The Senate version is much much different already from the original version. We made sure in the Senate that all the safeguards, safety nets were added in the bill,” he said.
The establishment of MIF, according to the Marcos administration’s economic managers, is part of the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda and Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 which are all instruments in pursuing the country’s economic transformation.
