Senate putting Maharlika Fund under microscope

The proposed measure seeking to establish the Maharlika Investment Fund to lump together investible government assets needs to be studied thoroughly, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri stressed Friday.

Zubiri said he will ask a select group of senators like Sonny Angara, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe and Mark Villar, as well as the chairpersons of concerned Senate committees, to take an in-depth look at the proposal.

Among the committees to be gathered for their input are the finance, ways and means, economic affairs, banks, financial institutions, and the panel on government-owned and-controlled corporations.

The Senate president said the measure’s proponents, led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, must prove the need to establish a sovereign fund and how it could be made to grow and be protected.

“We must first ensure the sovereign wealth fund is necessary and if so, we need to ensure that it is managed properly and the safeguards are in place so that it would not be misused or [be] prone to corruption,” he said.

Transparency

Gatchalian, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, echoed the need for checks and balances and full transparency in the creation of the fund.

He, nonetheless, expressed belief the country is “ready” for such a wealth fund.

“We are ready for something like this. But for me, safeguards must be important. As I see [it], the fund will be put to waste if it’s not properly invested,” Gatchalian.

On Thursday, the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries approved and adopted the amendments introduced by the technical working group on House Bill 639 proposing to establish the MIF.

Speaker Romualdez, the author of the measure, said the MIF will help achieve the objectives of the eight-point socioeconomic roadmap of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned investment funds typically financed by a country’s surplus revenues or reserves, Romualdez explained.

Governments invest the funds in an array of both real and financial assets to stabilize national budgets, create savings for their citizens, or promote economic development, he pointed out.

Under the measure, the initial outlay for the MIF would come from the Government Service Insurance System (P125 billion), Social Security System and Land Bank of the Philippines (P50 billion each), Development Bank of the Philippines (P25 billion), and National Treasury (P25 billion).