Maharlika IRR review likely done in 2 weeks

MANILA, Philippines — The review of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund will likely be finished in the next two weeks with its target operation still on track by year-end.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the review of the IRR of the Maharlika Investment Fund is still ongoing.

“We already discussed it and we are finalizing. We will present it to the President soon,” Pangandaman told reporters late Friday.

“It (review) is ongoing. It will be finished soon, maybe after this long weekend,” he said.

Two weeks ago, Marcos ordered the suspension of the IRR implementation “pending further study.”

Asked what the specific provisions Marcos wanted to change, Pangandaman did not elaborate.

“When you have a specific law, it is in the IRR that you can elaborate. I think some of the provisions (that he wants) were not there when it was submitted by the Treasury two months ago,” Pangandaman.

It was end-August when the Treasury released the IRR of the MIF. By mid-September, Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines had remitted their contributions worth P50 billion and P25 billion, respectively.

The budget chief also denied that it was Section 23 of the IRR that Marcos wanted to modify.

Section 23 of the IRR limits the President from picking the members of the Maharlika Investment Corp.

As of now, it is only the Advisory Council that can come up with the potential candidates that the President can choose from.

The application for the MIC ended on Sept. 27. About two weeks later, the Advisory Council, of which Pangandaman is a part of, submitted the short list to the President.

Until now, Malacañang has yet to give the names of the candidates.

Despite the IRR suspension, Pangandaman believes that the government will proceed with the full operationalization of the fund by yearend, as originally scheduled.

“I think we are still on track,” Pangandaman said.

“Assuming the IRR is finished in two weeks’ time, then probably by November also we will have a complete board and head of the MIC,” she said.

Investments in the MIF are expected to be used to expedite the implementation of some of 197 high-impact infrastructure flagship projects worth around $153 billion.

Governing the MIF is the MIC which has an authorized capital stock of $8.9 billion. Private and state-owned financial institutions can make direct investments in the MIF’s sub-funds which offer specific investment strategies.

While the MIC has yet to be established, the Treasury serves as an escrow and will transfer the funds once the corporation is fully organized.

Last month, some lawmakers also asked the Supreme Court to declare it as unconstitutional and void the MIF Act.