Sen. Imee Marcos during one of the Senate hearings. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph B. Vidal
TACLOBAN CITY — While she has reservations about the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), Senator Imee Marcos appealed to Filipinos to support the measure which her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., plans to implement.
“I don’t have any desire to oppose the administration but at the same time, like many Filipinos, I have great anxiety about the source of funds,” she said in a press conference in Tacloban on Saturday evening.
She added: “But nandiyan na siya. Batas na siya so tulungan na lang natin si Presidente at siguruhin din natin na magagastos sa mga kailangan natin at maging magtagumpay ito. (It’s there. It’s already a law so let us just help the President to make this successful).”
Last May 31, Congress approved the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023.
While the President has yet to sign it, the MIF was already certified by the country’s top leader as an “urgent measure.”
Imee, who visited Eastern Samar on Saturday, did not cast her vote on the MIF while it was being deliberated for approval by the Senate on Friday, June 2.
She said she texted the President about her concerns about the MIF. Marcos, however, did not say what the response of her brother was.
Imee said the enactment into law of the MIF got flak from the opposition senators who will elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.
“I’m sure. Sigurado ako. There are concerns on certain provisions. But we could not stand in its way because it is already a law,” she said.
Opposition Sen. Koko Pimentel said he is ready to offer himself as a “source” of some facts and information on the measure for those who plan to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.
President Marcos repeatedly said that his administration aims to use the MIF to attract more foreign investors and help finance the administration’s infrastructure development.
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