Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — A lawmaker criticized the proposed governing board of the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), dismissing it as “unfair” to Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) which are set to cough up a combined investment of ₱75 billion.

As the planned investment trust would be managed by a board of directors, Sen. Francis Escudero stressed that the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) should be led by those with major contributions, like the state-run banks.

MIC is set to get its initial capital from Landbank (₱50 billion) and the DBP (₱25 billion).

“Bakit isa lang ang representative ng Landbank? (Why is there only one Landbank representative?)… Where did this formula come from?” he asked during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

“If you want proper corporate governance, hindi ba tama lang na Landbank should have the proportional representation in the board to their investment so that they can protect their investment?” Escudero also said.

“The same is true for DBP,” he added.

Under the proposed bill, the MIC board will be chaired by the secretary of finance, with the corporation’s chief executive officer, Landbank president, DBP president, representatives of the contributors to the fund, as well as “independent directors” from the academe and business sectors.

The senator even hit the economic team for already allocating representation for future private investors.

“Why would they have one vote similar to Landbank who contributed ₱50 billion?” Escudero asked. “Isn’t that, to say the least, unfair?

“Isn’t that going against basic corporate governance and practice?” he added.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, however, said the proportional contribution only covers the regular members of the board of directors.