How malice works
EO 8 was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos on 9 December and exempted DBP from the requirement on state-owned firms and financial institutions to remit to the Treasury.
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Daily TribuneEO 8 was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos on 9 December and exempted DBP from the requirement on state-owned firms and financial institutions to remit to the Treasury.
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Detractors of the Maharlika Investment Fund bill will clutch on all possible excuses to fire up public outrage against the measure, the fate of which now rests with the senators.
At the House, as a parting shot, one of the militant legislators linked the recently signed Executive Order 8 to the proposed creation of the MIF.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno laughed off the fabrication and expressed amusement over the creativity of the militants.
EO 8 removed the mandate on the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines to surrender 50 percent of its annual earnings to the government.
EO 8 was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 9 December and exempted DBP from the requirement on state-owned firms and financial institutions to remit to the Treasury.
Under Republic Act 7656 or the Dividend Law, government-owned and controlled corporations are required to remit to the Treasury at least 50 percent of their earnings annually.
The President of the Philippines, however, may adjust the percentage of annual net earnings to be declared by a GOCC, in the interest of the national economy and general welfare, according to RA 7656.
EO 8 seeks to free up the DBP and allow it to offer better financing packages to local industries which are trying to secure their footing in the post-pandemic era.
Since the DBP is being tapped to finance the MIF, militants extrapolated that the Palace directive has the sinister motive of anticipating the drawing of DBP financing for the fund.
Far from the militants' yarn, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who pushed for the Executive Order, said aside from assisting industries emerging from the ravages of the pandemic, DBP will also take a bigger role in the infrastructure buildup.
EO 8 seeks to strengthen the capital position of DBP and allow it to keep within the strict Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas regulations on the banking system while keying industries through loans to achieve a quicker rebound from the pandemic.
"The various programs of the DBP aim to address gaps in the agricultural sector and increase the resilience of the value chain in the pursuit of food security," the EO summed its aim.
Under the executive order, DBP will provide credit support for infrastructure and logistics facilities; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment and social services; and community development, "to drive immediate economic growth and recovery."
The militants still insisted that the directive "was issued to increase DBP's capital to the MIF" and favor the proposed fund rather than the national budget.
The Land Bank of the Philippines, Diokno said, had undergone the same process of widening its financing space.
The finance chief explained the reduction in the remittance of a dividend of financial institutions was made long before the MIF was conceived.
It was meant to improve the ability of both government banks to deliver on their mandate and at the same time, maintain their financial standing.
To sabotage the MIF, the militants had the temerity to breed a monster using two unrelated issues.
