President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will push through, after ordering a suspension of the fund’s implementation. Malacanang on Wednesday said the President suspended the MIF to study the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
“President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued a suspension because he wanted to study carefully the IRR to ensure that the purpose of the fund will be realized for the country’s development with safeguards in place for transparency and accountability,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement. In a pre-departure speech before his flight to Saudi Arabia, President Marcos said that he was surprised by reports of the MIF suspension. Mr. Marcos, quoted by reports, reiterated that “what I have done though, is that we have found more improvements we can make.”
Earlier, the President had assured the public that the wealth fund would be handled by proper economic managers as he vowed to insulate MIF from politics to ensure its success. President Marcos signed the MIF into law on July 18 to boost the country’s economy through the use of the government’s economic assets and inter-generational management.
The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) confirmed receiving a memo from the Office of the Executive Secretary ordering the Bureau of Treasury to suspend the implementation of the MIF in coordination with the DBP and LandBank. LandBank also confirmed receiving the same instructions from the Palace.