Marcos to sign Maharlika bill today

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is set to sign into law today the bill establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a measure that officials said would promote sustainable development but has drawn flak from critics who insist that it poses risks to the economy.

Senate President Miguel Zubiri revealed last week that the signing of the MIF bill – a pet measure of Marcos – would be held on July 18, six days before the President’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Sources from the legislature and executive branch confirmed that the signing ceremony would take place today at Malacañang.

The enactment also takes place two weeks after the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs received a copy of the enrolled bill from Congress.

Approved by Congress last May, the MIF will create the Philippines’ first sovereign investment fund that will allow the government to invest in various outlets like foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, corporate bonds, commercial real estate and infrastructure projects.

In a recent statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the passage of the MIF would widen the country’s fiscal space and ease pressures in financing public infrastructure projects.

The DOF added that the investment fund would serve as an additional vehicle that would allow the government to tap surpluses that cannot be used under present legal framework.

Economic managers have claimed that the MIF’s direct benefits include increased investments in and funding of big-ticket infrastructure projects, high-return green and blue projects and countryside development, including agriculture.

Some sectors, however, are concerned that the MIF might suffer the same fate as that of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which figured in what has been described as one of the greatest financial scandals in the world.

Twenty-one economics professors from the University of the Philippines are opposed to the bill, arguing that it “violates fundamental principles of economics and finance and poses serious risks to the economy and the public sector, notwithstanding its proponents’ good intentions.”

In a recent statement, they urged Marcos to “seriously reconsider” the final approval of the MIF bill and present a “clear and solid rationale for setting it up in the first place.”

Officials have insisted that the bill has enough safeguards to ensure that the fund is managed properly.