Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday that the implementing rules and regulations of the Maharlika Investment Fund are in its final stages and that the President is expected to sign the bill soon.
In a message to reporters covering the Finance beat, Diokno said: “The crafting of the IRR started right after the approval of the MIF bill. It is now in its final phase.”
Congress approved the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023 on May 31. The House of Representatives adopted the Senate version of the bill, SB 2020, which was passed on third reading with 19 affirmative votes, one negative vote, and one abstention.
Diokno said the government would promulgate the rules and regulations 90 days from when the law was passed.
In a July 6 interview on ANC’s Business Outlook, Diokno said the MIF would be operational before the end of 2023. “In a week or two, he [the President] will sign it,” he said.
Senate President Miguel Zubiri earlier said the final version of the bill has been sent to the President.
MIF will be the Philippines’ first-ever sovereign wealth fund that will optimize national funds by generating returns to support the present administration’s economic goals as set in the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda, and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028.
The fund will be invested in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and high-impact infrastructure projects, and projects that contribute to the attainment of sustainable development.
The Senate’s version of the bill addresses the issues concerning MIF’s capitalization and management.
The final version of the bill explicitly prohibits government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations that provide for social security and public health insurance (of government employees, private sector workers and employees, and other sectors and subsectors) to contribute to and invest in the Fund.
These include, but are not limited to, the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Home Development Mutual Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that nearly half of Filipino adults know almost nothing at all about the MIF.
The results of the SWS survey, which was conducted from March 26 to 29, found that 47 percent of Filipinos have “almost no knowledge or no knowledge at all” about the proposed investment fund.
Marcos had strongly pushed for the MIF, which seeks to establish a sovereign wealth fund by tapping funding from government financial institutions.
Business groups, academia, economists, opposition lawmakers, and civil society, however, flagged several provisions as problematic such as the use of state pension funds as seed money.
Meanwhile, the SWS survey found that the opinions on whether the MIF will be prone to corruption were mixed.
Thirty-one percent of Filipino adults said they have “much confidence”—10 percent “very much confidence” and 22 percent “much confidence”—that the proposal will not end up in corruption.
Thirty-eight percent were undecided, while 29 percent expressed “little confidence”—10 percent “very much confidence” and 11 percent “very much confidence.”
The poll showed 51 percent of respondents said they expect little or no benefit from the MIF, while 56 percent expect much benefit from it.
SWS said the survey was conducted from March 26 to 29 through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. Most respondents were from Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.
Knowledge about MIF was higher in Metro Manila (29 percent) and Balance Luzon (24 percent) than in Visayas (14 percent) and Mindanao (10 percent).