Makabayan bloc: Senate’s Maharlika bill again allows use of workers’ pension fund
GOING TO COURT | In this file photo taken on February 13, 2023, Representatives Arlene Brosas of Gabriela (left) and France Castro of ACT Teachers and former Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna led the Makabayan bloc in challenging the constitutionality of the Maharlika Investment Fund bill in the Supreme Court. INQUIRER file photo / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc on Sunday expressed strong opposition to the approval of the Senate’s version of the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), which will reinstate the use of workers’ pension funds from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) after it was excluded in the House version.
In a statement, the Makabayan bloc called on the public to reject the current administration’s move, saying that the Senate version reinstated the use of these pension funds in the proposed MIF “while we weren’t looking.”
The group pointed out it proposes “to increase the capitalization of the Maharlika Investment Corporation from P75 billion in the House version to a massive P500 billion.”
“We are dismayed that the Senate is choosing to disregard the widespread sentiment expressed by workers in the private and public sectors throughout the country for the government to keep its hands away from their pension funds. They do not want the government to gamble with their retirement benefits in its questionable pursuit of high returns,” the Makabayan bloc said.
Aside from GSIS and SSS, the Senate version of MIF also reincluded Pag-IBIG as the proposed bill’s funding source.
“Under no circumstances shall [the state-run pension funds] be requested or required to contribute is the deceptive wording in the Senate bill that actually allows these pension funds to invest in the MIF — provided their governing bodies (who are all appointed by the President) voluntarily decide to do so,” the groups said.
“We note with dismay that the Senate allows the Marcos administration to tap “other sources” of government funding, such as “royalties” and “special assessments.” This is a catch-all provision that opens a vast array of government funds, including, for example, the Malampaya fund, or even income from new taxes, to be funneled to the MIC,” it added.
Last December 16, 2022, the House of Representatives approved the MIF bill. As revised, the House version listed the Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor), and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as MIF contributors.
The Makabayan bloc believes that the Senate’s Maharlika Investment Fund bill “will endanger the welfare and future of the Filipino people and must be opposed.”
“The Senate version makes the intent of the proposal very clear: Pres. Marcos Jr. wants to centralize government income and revenues totaling a half-trillion pesos to this presidential kitty to be directly managed by his alter egos, bypassing Congress and the appropriations process, undermining its role as the supposed guardian of the public purse,” the group said.
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