Some of President Marcos' economic managers were apparently ambivalent about the importance of the Maharlika Investment Fund bill, Sen. Francis Escudero said. | MRamosINQ /PDI
The former chair of the Senate finance committee also pointed out that the House version of the measure that was approved in December and its counterpart bill in the Senate, which was filed by Sen. Mark Villar, lacked several key components and safeguards to make it attractive to would-be investors.
For one, he said financial officials could not explain the main purpose and objective of the Maharlika fund, which was not even mentioned when Marcos delivered his first State of the Nation Address last year.“[The Senate hearing] is not the appropriate venue to have a debate among yourselves. The debate should just be between the Senate and the executive branch, not among the agencies under the executive branch,” he stressed.
As finance secretary, he said Diokno sits as chair of the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines, which raised several concerns over the plan to use P50 billion of its funds as seed money for the Maharlika fund. “[Diokno] is also the leader of the economic managers who are defending and pushing for this bill. Is he aware of the Landbank’s comments on the ROI and capital reserve requirement?” Escudero said.“If they really want this and they are convinced about its [value], then Landbank should not have made that comment in the first place if they only addressed its concerns from the start,” he continued.“Originally, they actually planned to make separate presentations [to the senators].
He said the existing sovereign wealth funds, such as those established by Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, had clear goals that the state-financed investment portfolio wanted to achieve.The senator likewise reiterated that Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines, which would be required to invest P25 billion, should not be compelled to bankroll the Maharlika fund since it would expose their funds to risks.
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