Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno assured the public the contributions of the state-managed Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines in the Maharlika Investment Fund are safe despite the suspension of the fund's implementing rules and regulations or IRR.

Diokno told DAILY TRIBUNE the funds invested by DBP and LBP were lodged with the Bureau of the Treasury or BTr, and are earning interest.

Republic Act 11954, the law creating the sovereign wealth fund that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law on 18 July, mandated the BTr to develop the IRR for the MIF law within 90 days.

"As for me, I didn't… personally, I didn't call him (Marcos). I called the executive secretary who signed it (IRR)," Diokno said, referring to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.

"That's all. There's nothing to worry about," Diokno said, adding that Bersamin told him the President ordered the suspension.

LandBank contributed P50 billion and DBP P25 billion in seed capital for the MIF, transferring the funds to the BTr last 14 September. Under the law, the national government would have an initial equity of P50 billion in the fund.

Before departing for Saudi Arabia, Marcos explained that the fund's IRR would only be tweaked to improve its organizational structure and make it as close to perfect as possible, adding that the MIF's implementation will proceed this year as planned.

"I was a bit alarmed by the news reports that I read early this morning that we have put the Maharlika Fund on hold. Quite the contrary," the President said.

"The organization of the Maharlika Fund proceeds apace, and what I have done, though, is we have found more improvements we can make, specifically in the organizational structure of the Maharlika Fund," he said.

Suspending the implementation of the IRR should not be misinterpreted as a judgment on the "rightness or wrongness of the Maharlika fund," he said.

Marcos said the IRR suspension was done in consultation with his economic managers and the people who will be involved in the fund. He said that he wants to improve the fund's structure with their input.

The Maharlika Investment Fund is a sovereign wealth fund that will invest in strategic assets and industries. It is expected to raise P275 billion from government-owned financial institutions and the national government.

The fund has been criticized by some lawmakers and economists, who say it is risky and unnecessary. They also argue that the fund could fall victim to corruption and cronyism.

Despite the criticism, the Marcos administration has insisted the fund is essential to boosting the country's economic growth.