MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that he plans to sign the bill creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) as soon as he receives it.
The proposed measure needs the signature of the President in order for it to become a law.
“I will sign it as soon as I get it,” Marcos said in an interview in Makati City.
READ: Maharlika fund like ‘gambling with parents’ money’ – Makabayan
Marcos did not directly say whether he is happy with the current Maharlika bill, but he noted that the revisions were for financial security.
“Am I happy? Well, it is the version that the House and the Senate passed and we will certainly look into all the changes that have been made, and I think most of the changes that were proposed and eventually adopted really had to do with the safety and security of people’s pension funds,” he said.
The President said he had monitored discussions of the MIF, and acknowledged that there are causes for concern.
READ: Spirit of Maharlika bill
“Certainly, sometimes I have been watching the discussions that have been going on with the Maharlika Fund and that is all true, that’s all true, you must worry about that,” he said.
“Kung corrupt ang ilagay niyo diyan, corrupt talaga ‘yan. Mawawala ang pera. Kung mahusay ang ilalagay mo diyan, ay lalaki at lalaki ‘yan at magagamit natin ‘yung pondo na ‘yan,” Marcos added.
(If you put someone corrupt there, it would really be corrupt. Money will be lost. If you put a good one in there, the fund will grow and we can use that fund.)
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The President, however, stressed that good management is key to keeping the money safe.
“Perhaps we are looking in the wrong direction. The key to the success of any fund, hedge fund, pension fund, sovereign fund, investment fund, is the management. Of course all of these things can happen, we’ve seen them happen before because the management chose for it to happen, these scandals that we see from other places. On the other hand, we see examples of really successful funds and really, the difference is management,” he pointed out in a mix of English and Filipino.
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The President said the MIF must be independent from the government, noting that he suggested to the House of Representatives to remove from the bill government officials originally designated to be part of the MIF’s board.
“One of the first changes that even I proposed to the House was to remove the President as part of the Board, to remove the Central Bank chairman, the Department of Finance, because it has to operate as an independent fund, well-managed professionally,” Marcos said.
Marcos had certified as urgent the Maharlika bill in both chambers of Congress, paving the way for the proposed measure to breeze through the legislative branch.
In the House of Representatives, 279 voted in favor of the bill while in the Senate, 19 senators approved it.