Agri group head wants Maharlika fund to benefit farmers, fishers

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. said the proponents of the Maharlika Investment Fund should allocate a portion of the sovereign wealth to the agriculture value chain to ensure that farmers and fishers can still access funds to boost their livelihood.

"We demand that that portion of the Maharlika Fund goes to the agriculture sector because the source of the investment comes from the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines," PCAFI president Danilo V. Fausto told reporters in a recent spot interview.

Lamenting that he doesn't see anything in the Maharlika Fund for the agricultural sector, Fausto said: "These are our agricultural banks. I want to make it mandatory in the law that a portion of that fund should be invested in the agricultural value chain."

Funds for agriculture, he said, need to be invested in infrastructure such as cold chain facilities and warehouses and not in production since it is not "investment-friendly."

"That's why I'm not saying to invest in production. You invest in infrastructures. Now, you can leave the production side on the LandBank or the normal banking system which is poorly handling it because of the central bank manual of procedures," he added.

Despite criticisms, the House of Representatives approved the third and final reading of House Bill 6608, which was certified as urgent by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The proposed measure seeks to maximize the investible funds of state-run financial institutions and ultimately increase public funds for nation-building.

Under the bill, the MIF would be funded by the investible resources of the Land Bank of the Philippines (P50 billion), the Development Bank of the Philippines (P25 billion), and the dividends or profits of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Transparency assured

Speaker Martin Romualdez has sworn by a deliberate Congress issuing a fix to a few bugs to a version of the fund that acknowledged minority recommendations.

The House-approved bill to create MIF specifies a provision proposed by opposition's France Castro, which allows the public's constitutional right to information on the fund's financial matters.

"The third-reading version now creates a MIF that is significantly more transparent and accountable than the committee report," Albay representative Joey Salceda said.

The iteration approved by this chamber would check all investments made by Maharlika Investment Corp., the statements of assets and liabilities of its directors, members of the risk management unit, and the advisory board.

It would open to the public the SALN of those who appointed and designated MIC members and officials and audit documents from its auditors.

Likewise, the measure provides that the records on the MIC about its investment activities shall be secured and maintained under the rules of the National Archives of the Philippines.

The disclosure rules under all relevant laws shall apply to the MIC.

The bill the House passed last week is a nod to the President's intent to bolster a strained economy by pooling government resources that it can commit to lucrative investments.