Bersamin confident MIF law can withstand legal scrutiny

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has expressed confidence that the law establishing the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) would be able to withstand scrutiny before the Supreme Court (SC).

In an interview with CNN Philippines yesterday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, a former chief justice, said the administration is confident that the high court would rule in favor of the MIF Act, one of the pet measures of President Marcos.

“We are not yet sure what questions will be raised against this bill to attack its constitutionality but we are very confident that with two branches of government putting their heads together in this legislation, the Supreme Court will see through and approve or pass upon the its judgment in favor (of the law),” Bersamin said.

Signed into law last July 18, the MIF Act of 2023 aims to accelerate the implementation of key infrastructure projects and support efforts to achieve the Philippines’ growth targets.

It would involve the pooling of some P500 billion among government financial institutions and private groups to be used for strategic investments.

While officials claimed that MIF is beneficial to the country, some sectors believe it poses risks to the economy and are planning to question its legality before the Supreme Court.

Before the enactment of the MIF law, critics questioned the double provisions on the prescriptive period in the bill.

The Senate version of the measure, which was adopted by the House of Representatives, contained 10-year and 20-year prescriptive periods for crimes punishable under the bill.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has said the corrections were “thoroughly discussed” by the majority bloc in their Viber group.

Bersamin said Malacañang was made aware of “certain faults and certain deficiencies” but it was convinced that the version sent by Congress was the enrolled bill.

“The President was advised that this was the enrolled bill so we just had the President sign this in a public manner,” the Executive Secretary said.

“We have no doubts about the accuracy of what was going to be the enrolled bill. We were made aware only of some minor syntax problems like where is the proper place of this comma or period, but those are very minor. We settle that in an honest-to-goodness bicam (bicameral conference).”

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said he would join petitioners in questioning the constitutionality of the fund before the SC on the grounds that it was certified urgent without a public calamity or emergency to address and there was failure to prove its economic viability required in the Constitution for newly created government owned and controlled corporations.

“The Maharlika fund is not an achievement, and I think Congress knows it. When it was first mentioned, there was no spontaneous applause,” Pimentel said on Monday after Marcos delivered his SONA.

“When he first mentioned Maharlika, no one clapped,” Pimentel said. “I don’t even think Congress is excited about Maharlika.”

In his SONA, Marcos touted the Maharlika fund as a source of funding for key projects that would benefit the poor.

“In pooling a small fraction of the considerable but underutilized government funds, the Maharlika Fund shall be used to make high-impact and profitable investments, such as the Build-Better-More program. The gains from the fund shall be reinvested into the country’s economic well-being,” Marcos said.