Maharlika Fund soft launch ‘premature’? Romualdez says PH already late to party
Martin Romualdez FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez believes the country is already late in terms of setting up a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), as a lot of developing countries have used this formula to attract investments and bankroll projects.
Romualdez during an ambush interview at Davos, Switzerland on Friday (Manila time) was asked about criticisms that soft-launching the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) is premature because the bill has been deliberated in the Senate, and is yet to be enacted into law.
In response, the Speaker claimed the Philippines is already far behind, adding that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. would not wait for the time to have funds for anti-poverty projects.
“We’re late, we’re really far behind, I think these people who say ‘now is not the time’, (the truth is) huli na tayo. You see the better performing sovereign funds, they’ve been around for decades, and huli na naman tayo (we’re dead last),” Romualdez, who is in Davos as part of the country’s delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF), said.
“But the Filipinos cannot wait, we have to bring down the cost of electricity, the cost of power, the cost of oil, we have to bring in developmental projects, not just infrastructure, we have to bring agriculture products in, we have to make sure there’s food security, we cannot wait. President Marcos would not sit on his hands, he has no time to just waste time,” he added.
As to the views of the Senators who are against the said proposed bill, Romualdez urged them to study it and air their grievances during deliberations.
“We passed it in the House with all due respect, it’s been already filed in the Senate, for all those Senators who may have their contrary clause, just read the bill, and deliberate it in the Senate and let’s take it from there,” he noted.
It was not mentioned who among the Senators have opposed the proposed Maharlika bill, but no less than the President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, has raised concerns about the bill.
READ: Maharlika fund proponent open to more discussions
Senator Risa Hontiveros said last Monday that it was premature, warning the President that such a move would make him look amateurish considering that he would be soft-launching a measure that may be subject to changes once considered in the Senate.
READ: Maharlika fund ‘soft launch’ at WEF ‘premature,’ can make Marcos look ‘amateur’ – Hontiveros
READ: Senators vow thorough review of Maharlika fund proposal: ‘Haste makes waste’
Romualdez and other key House officials filed House Bill No. 6398 or a bill seeking to establish the MIF — an SWF which the government can tap for investments both local and abroad.
However, it drew flak and controversy after the original version of the bill stated that the initial capitalization would come from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Social Security System (SSS), which would contribute P125 billion and P50 billion, respectively. This stroked fears that pensioners may lose their benefits if investments made by the MIF fail.
Eventually, the GSIS and SSS funds — including the funds from the national budget — were removed from the list of fund sources of the MIF. The final version of the bill which was approved by the House before the session break last December also explicitly stated that the MIF would never source funds from both GSIS and SSS.
The changes had prompted even some minority lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill, as it was supposedly a much better version that the original proposal.
For now, the bill is approved at the House, waiting for the Senate’s version of the proposed measure.
Previously, Romualdez said that he is optimistic that Marcos would be able to use the WEF as a platform to raise awareness about the Philippines’ venture as an investment hub, putting the spotlight on the MIF.
