Salceda: Wealth fund can tap royalties from mining, natural gas
I believe the Senate, has already constituted a study group on the matter.
Daily TribuneI believe the Senate, has already constituted a study group on the matter.
Aside from contributions from revenue-generating institutions such as pension funds and state financial institutions, a House leader said the proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund will draw from revenues from exploiting natural resources.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the House ways and means committee chairperson, told Daily Tribune that sourcing money from the government's share in the use of the country's riches including those from mining is "contemplated."
Salceda said MWF may even tap earnings from the Malampaya natural gas field.
Channeling the Malampaya share to the MWF, however, would need an amendment to Republic Act 11371 which specified that the fund can only be used for energy projects.
The bill, authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez and Deputy Speaker Sandro Marcos, recently hurdled the House committee and it will go through deliberations in the House plenary.
"I believe the Senate, has already constituted a study group on the matter," according to Salceda.
The agenda for the coming House discussion of the MWF bill is the mix of assets the fund will invest in and the allocation level for foreign securities.
Salceda said including overseas stocks in the fund will diversify the portfolio and allows the fund to take positions in potentially higher-return investments.
Salceda before becoming a House member was among the highest-paid stock brokers of investment bank unit Baring Securities.
Foreign securities included
"MWF grows faster with some exposure to high-return foreign investments, which is better than a smaller and severely constrained fund exclusively investing in domestic investments," Salceda explained.
That said, a proposal in the bill was for a certain percentage, at the minimum, of the fund should be invested in domestic investments.
Pooling of funds is a key feature and advantage of the current proposal since it maximizes the impact of the funds that each institution holds compared to what they can achieve on their own.
Certain investments in agriculture, infrastructure, and healthcare get priority.
Under the bill, the investments of the state pension funds Government Service Insurance System, and Social Security System are risk-free through government guarantee.
Infusions in the form of preferred shares and convertible debts would make the GSIS and SSS investments zero-risk.
Regarding the concern about BSP investments in the form of foreign reserves, the provision was amended so that the BSP's required investments come from declared dividends, not the currency stock from overseas Filipino workers and Business Process Outsourcing income.
"As Chair of the House TWG on the bill, I welcome continued discussion on the matter," Salceda indicated.
