Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 22) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he would immediately sign into law the measure seeking to create the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), as he expressed confidence the Philippines has “good” financial managers to lead the controversial fund.
“I will sign it as soon as I get it,” Marcos said when asked during a chance interview with reporters on Thursday.
“Am I happy? Well, that is the version the House and the Senate have passed and we will certainly look into all of the changes that have been made,” he added.
On Wednesday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri signed the MIF bill. The measure would then be forwarded to House Speaker Martin Romualdez before transmitting it to Malacañang for the president’s final approval.
READ: Zubiri signs Maharlika Investment Fund bill
Marcos said he was also monitoring the concerns and issues about possible risks when the planned sovereign wealth fund comes into play.
While “all of these things can happen,” he added there are also reports of successful funds.
“The difference really is the management and that’s why we have made sure that it is independent from government,” he said.
“One of the first changes that I even proposed to the House was to remove the president as part of the board, to remove the central bank chairman, to remove the Department of Finance because it has to operate as an independent fund, well-managed professionally,” he also said.
Marcos said he believes the Philippines has “quite a few good money managers, financial managers that we can call upon” to ensure the funds would not be vulnerable to woes.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel reiterated his disapproval of the Maharlika bill.
He claimed that arguments against the measure amount to nothing “just to please one person” so “that person can announce during the SONA (State of the Nation Address) the passage of an ill-conceived law.”
“Very sad day for the 100-plus-year-old Senate as an institution,” he said. “Our rules are meaningless and worthless. The tyranny of numbers does what it wants to do, railroading and bulldozing all legal concepts and regulations out of the way.”
He added that “nothing is sacred anymore” and the upper chamber has been reduced to a “samahang barkadahan” (a group of friends).
