Rerp. Edcel Lagman —PHOTO FROM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FB PAGE
Critics of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) on Wednesday pushed anew for the scrapping of the country’s “rushed and half-baked” sovereign wealth fund, while lawmakers allied with the administration tried to make light of President Marcos’ decision to suspend its implementation.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman pointed out that “no foreign investor has come to the rescue of the MIF,” contrary to economic managers’ projections that it would spur foreign direct investments.
“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,” the independent opposition solon said.
In a statement to the Inquirer, Lagman quipped that “haste makes waste” would be an appropriate aphorism for inscription on the epitaph of the fund because Republic Act No. 11954, or the MIF Act, was “enacted with inordinate alacrity without adequate and searching studies from the President’s economic advisers and congressional allies.”
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro agreed with her colleagues that the suspension of the MIF showed that it was “rushed and flawed on so many levels.”
Koko: Not surprising
Sen. Francis Escudero and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the President’s decision to suspend RA 11954 was not surprising as there were questions about the fund’s functions that members of the economic team had failed to address.
Escudero, Pimentel and Sen. Imee Marcos did not participate when the Senate approved the measure on May 31 and only opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros voted against its passage.
According to Pimentel, the move was a “very good development” since the law “has a lot of defects.”
The opposition senator was among those who petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the MIF unconstitutional.
“The concept has not been fully studied from the very start,” Pimentel said in a Viber message.
“Hence, we should not wonder why apparently the law is not ready for implementation. Good that the Marcos administration appears to listen to reason,” he noted.
Hontiveros said Mr. Marcos was apparently “starting to heed our warnings” about the possible adverse effects of the MIF on the country’s fiscal standing.
President’s discretion
However, Mr. Marcos’ allies in the House downplayed the suspension of the MIF’s implementation.
House ways and means panel chair Rep. Joey Salceda stressed that “the President’s exercise of executive discretion was well within his power.”
“Don’t overthink this. It’s the executive branch working things among themselves, as is proper at this stage of the law’s implementation,” he said in a statement to the Inquirer.
Salceda, the chair of the House’s technical working group that drafted the MIF bill, pointed out that RA 11954 would still be followed without exception.
He assured the public that the government was “still on track to get the ball rolling by the end of this year” and that direct investments in development projects were expected by 2024.
“The IRR should anticipate future issues. If [the President] sees issues in the executive branch’s IRR draft, he can resolve them. Better to do so before full implementation,” said the Albay lawmaker.
‘He has his reasons’
Former President and House Deputy Speaker Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she trusted Mr. Marcos’ “instincts” in suspending the implementation of the MIF.
“I think we have nothing to lose if we support the President on the suspension as he deems appropriate,” Arroyo told House reporters on Wednesday.
She added: “The President is the one who has access to data. He has his reasons and so we trust him on this.”
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said there was nothing wrong with the President’s decision, saying it was actually a “very prudent move” for Mr. Marcos to “decelerate.”
“Let us trust the President’s wisdom in doing so for I believe that he or his economic team had good and valid reasons to study the measure further,” he said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian agreed that the President’s decision was “prudent” after the government-run banks funding the MIF had asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for a reprieve from its rules on capital requirements.