In an overwhelming show of unity, 90 percent of the members of the House of Representatives, or 282 out of the 312 legislators in the chamber, not only voted for but listed themselves as co-authors of the Maharlika Investment Fund bill.
House Bill 6608 was approved on the second and third reading on the same day after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. certified the passage of the bill as urgent.
The bill hurdled the Lower House based on the show of strong commitment from its proponents.
It was fitting that the bill was the first to get BBM’s certification as urgent since, as Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said, the creation of a state-owned investment vehicle is “long overdue.”
BBM wanted the MIF to be the government’s key tool in the new thrust of investing globally in the growing financial resources.
The worldwide rush to rise out of the pandemic offers huge investment opportunities.
Some financial experts said the government should first decide on the exact character of MIF and from where its seed fund will come for its smooth start.
An investment banker reminded that several sovereign wealth funds that the MIF will compete against have been in existence for over 40 years and the fields that the country’s new entry would be looking at are the same that the veterans have invested in.
The Indonesian Investment Authority has taken the path of partnering with seasoned counterparts to grow. The capital of INA has grown five times in just over a year from its inception in February 2021.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, the bill’s principal author, said amendments made in the MIF bill introduced more safeguards against abuse and fraud, proving that the bill’s proponents are sensitive to the public pulse.
The proposed sovereign wealth fund will help BBM keep the country on the high-growth path, Romualdez said.
He guaranteed the management of the fund “will follow best practices and the principles of transparency and accountability” and that it will be insulated from political influence.
Under the bill, the MIF Corp. that will manage the fund will have a board of directors composed of the secretary of Finance as chairperson and the Land Bank president, DBP president, seven members to be nominated by MIF contributors commensurate to their contributions, and four independent directors as members.
Among the changes in the bill that improved the integrity of MIF was raising the number of independent directors from two to four.
The corporation will have three layers of financial examiners, the internal and external auditors, aside from the required Commission on Audit check.
The proposed law also mandates the National Treasurer, in consultation with the founding government financial institutions, to issue the implementing rules and regulations.
However, the MIF’s journey towards realization is expected to face rough sailing at the Senate with the host of obstructionists in the chamber who said that the MIF is not needed and is “misguided.”
The senators opposing the creation of the fund are exactly the roadblocks to the boat of prosperity while the country’s neighbors which have built up their financial muscle through their sovereign wealth funds collect the rewards.