Transparency on the Maharlika Investment Fund bill
The Maharlika Investment Fund’s fate now lies in the hands of senators, most of whom have intents clouded with partisan motives.
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The Maharlika Investment Fund’s fate now lies in the hands of senators, most of whom have intents clouded with partisan motives.
Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, which received approval last Saturday from the National Economic and Development Authority board that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos heads, plots the development path of the nation until 2028 when BBM steps down.
A key element of the roadmap is the source of funding for projects that will catalyze economic growth. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the PDP details the strategies, legislative priorities, and annual sectoral targets for the next six years.
The need for innovative financing methods was cited in the roadmap that included the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund, a bill that hurdled the House and will go through deliberation in the Senate which is expected to be contentious.
"With sufficient governance safeguards to ensure the fund's sustainability and responsible management, the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund will help support our country's infrastructure development," Balisacan said.
The economic managers have given full support to the MIF considering its huge potential in pulling more investments similar to the experience of Indonesia which had employed its sovereign wealth fund to entice bigger counterparts to invest in its programs, particularly on green projects.
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According to Balisacan, creating the MIF as a complementary development vehicle underpins the PDP and the Marcos administration's AmBisyon Natin 2040. Speaker Martin Romualdez said transparency will be a key feature of the MIF based on the bill sent to the Senate.
"During the lengthy and exhaustive plenary deliberations on HB 6608, we have adopted various safeguards to ensure we can achieve the objectives of the Maharlika Investment Fund, and one of such is a provision to ensure transparency on relevant financial matters about the MIF," Romualdez said.
A provision under House Bill 6608 states the public can exercise freedom of information on the MIF despite the absence of an FoI law.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order 2 that requires transparency on the Executive through the FoI. He issued the EO due to the resistance of Congress on crafting the FoI law.
Under Section 43 of the MIF bill, all documents of the MIF and the Maharlika Investment Corporation, the independent body created to manage the fund, "shall be open, available and accessible to the public."
The measure also provides that MIC records related to its investment activities shall be secured and maintained under the rules of the National Archives of the Philippines.
Disclosure rules under Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code, Republic Act 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code apply to the MIC.
As the House leadership follows BBM's request to perfect the bill, which is about as close as it gets with the passed measure, the MIF's fate now lies in the hands of senators, most of whom have intents clouded with partisan motives.
