By Arabella Balderama

On Thursday, June 22, 2023, President Bongbong Marcos announced that he plans to immediately sign the bill seeking to establish the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) as soon as he receives it.

Marcos also expressed confidence that the Philippines has “quite a few good financial managers” to oversee the controversial fund.

The President did not frankly state his happiness with the MIF bill. However, he stressed that the revisions were for financial security.

“Am I happy? Well, it is the version that the House and the Senate passed, and we will certainly look into all the changes that have been made. I think most of the changes that were proposed and eventually adopted really had to do with the safety and security of people’s pension funds,” Marcos added.

Marcos monitored discussions regarding the MIF, and he acknowledged possible risks once the bill was passed.

“Certainly, sometimes I have been watching the discussions that have been going on with the Maharlika Fund, and that is all true … you must worry about that,” Marcos said, emphasizing that good management is key to money security.

“Of course, all of these things can happen. We’ve seen them happen before because the management chose for it to happen, these scandals that we see from other places. On the other hand, we see examples of really successful funds, and really, the difference is management,” the President noted.

Moreover, Marcos mentioned that the MIF should operate independently from the government, proposing that the House of Representatives remove the initially assigned officials from the MIF’s board, specifically the President, Central Bank Chairman, and Department of Finance.

Veto the bill

After President Bonbong Marcos expressed his intention to approve the MIF bill immediately, Senator Koko Pimentel warned him not to sign due to “unconstitutionality”.

The measure is “ill-conceived, not timely, and needs further discussion,” were some reasons Senator Pimentel cited.

“Mayroon provision po diyan na ginalaw without plenary authority. Malaking tsansa na unconstitutional ang Maharlika Law,” Pimentel ended.

Thumbnail from CNN Philippines