Maharlika Investment Fund among top Senate legislative agenda in 2023 —Villanueva

Senate of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The controversial Maharlika Investment Fund is among the top legislative agenda of the Senate in 2023.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said this on Monday as he enumerated the priority measures that the upper chamber is expected to take up.

“In 2023, we foresee the Senate taking up the priority measures of the administration such as the establishment of the Virology Institute, Medical Reserve Corps, and the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control,” he told reporters in a message.

“The move for the condonation of agrarian reform payments, as well as the House bill on the Maharlika Investment Fund are also on top of the legislative agenda,” he added.

The Senate will also be “prioritizing the institutionalization of the National Employment Recovery Strategy” which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sees as “an urgent measure to be passed,” Villanueva noted.

The Maharlika Investment Fund, which seeks to establish a P275-billion sovereign wealth fund for the Philippines, has been certified as urgent by Marcos.

However, critics opposed the measure as it initially sought to use the pension funds from the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System.

After public clamor, the proposal no longer includes the said pension funds.

Despite the removal of pension funds in the proposal, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros still did not favor the measure, saying it is unnecessary and costly.

In the lower chamber, six House representatives voted against the passage of the measure.

JMS