President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. spoke for the first time about the controversial and highly-debated Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) that seeks to establish a PHP 275 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday en route to Belgium, Marcos said the proposed bill filed by his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, will help in promoting economic developments and attracting investment for the government.
"For sure, I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise," the Chief Executive said when asked if the MIF would be advantageous to the country.
"It’s very clear that we need added investment. This is another way to get that," he said.
At first, it was noted that once the bill was enacted, the MIF will extract resources from the contributions of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank), and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
However, the proposal received backlash from several lawmakers, progressive groups, economists, and the public, prompting the lower house to remove GSIS and SSS as sources of the proposed MIF measure.
Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo said the MIF will instead utilize the profits of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), along with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
When asked to comment on the said developments, Marcos said it is up to Congress to make necessary refinements.
“Well, we’re just doing the regular process of looking at the bill. Well, not we. It’s the legislature. So let them do their jobs," he said.
“Let’s not debate until we see the final form, because we could be debating about provisions that will no longer exist. So, antayin natin kung anong gawin ng legislature," he continued.
