President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has suspended the implementing rules and regulations of the country’s first sovereign wealth fund until additional study is done, Malacañang confirmed on Wednesday.
In a brief statement, Malacañang said Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin issued the memorandum on 12 October after Marcos signed it into law amid opposition from several economists, academics, and civil society groups.
“President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued a suspension because he wanted to study carefully the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) to ensure the purpose of the fund will be realized for the country’s development with safeguards in place for transparency and accountability,” the Office of the Executive Secretary said in its statement, without elaborating.
Malacañang addressed the letter to the heads of the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.
The IRR, which marked the start of the MIF’s operationalization, was published in August. It received much attention from Marcos Jr.’s trips abroad. However, experts have raised concerns about MIF’s governance structure, funding, and transparency.
They also expressed concerns that the MIF might put the state banks that gave it its original capital at risk of losing their integrity. According to the law, Landbank and the DBP had to provide P50 billion and P25 billion, respectively, to help the MIF get started.
DBP President and CEO Michael de Jesus said the bank had already remitted its required contribution for the MIF’s initial capital, the nation’s first sovereign wealth fund, to the Bureau of Treasury last month.
Asked if the suspension would mean that the DBP could refund its P25-billion contribution to the Maharlika fund, de Jesus said, “That is a question we are asking.”
In a separate statement on Sunday, Landbank said that it “remains strong, adequately capitalized, and compliant with regulatory requirements” of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.