Albay First District Represenative Edcel Lagman (File photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Albay 1st District Represetative Edcel Lagman has called for the amendment or repeal of the law on Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
He claimed the measure was enacted without enough scrutiny from lawmakers allied with the administration.
Lagman, who belongs to the independent minority, said on Wednesday that MIF was created with haste.
The lawmaker made the call after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ordered the suspension of the MIF rollout so that agencies involved could study the plans.
“‘Haste makes waste is an appropriate aphorism for inscription on the epitaph of the Maharlika Investment Fund,” he said.
“The MIF Act was enacted with inordinate alacrity without adequate and searching studies from the President’s economic advisers and congressional allies,” he added.
“What should be suspended by the President is the entire implementation of the law for further in-depth study for perfecting amendments, if still possible, or final repeal because current negative economic indicators do not support the enactment and implementation of the MIF,” he suggested.
The lawmaker also said it will be disadvantageous for Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) if government were to proceed with the rollout of the country’s first sovereign wealth fund.
The two banks are the funding sources of MIF.
LandBank already contributed P50 billion to the fund, while DBP’s share was at P25 billion — which supposedly led to the depletion of the state-owned banks’ resources.
However, Lagman said that plans to bolster MIF with investments from foreign firms have not yet come to fruition.
“Since the MIF Act bled dry LandBank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines of their capital assets for infusion to the MIF, the two government banks suffered depletion of their resources so much so that they had to plead for exemption from the reserve requirements of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” he said.
“No foreign investor has come to the rescue of the MIF,” he lamented.
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