A member of the House minority bloc has admitted to being swayed by the changes he has seen on the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill, which majority solons have been aggressively pushing for.
Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Northern Samar 1st district Rep. Paul Daza stood in plenary Monday night, Dec. 12 to debate on the MIF measure after it was finally sponsored on the floor.
The proposed Philippine sovereign wealth fund--envisioned to generate profits for big-ticket government projects--in contained in House Bill (HB) No.6608.
Sponsor Manila 5th district Rep. Irwin Tieng, upon questioning by Daza, said that HB No.6608 was already the fourth version of the measure. House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the top legislative ally of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., is among its principal authors.
Tieng chairs the Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, which is the mother committee of the MIF bill.
But instead of criticizing the MIF like what he did during the committee-level discussions, Daza expressed satisfaction over the recent amendments to the measure. He went as far to say that all his concerns on the MIF has been addressed.
According to Daza, the current bill is a "much better version" of the measure, and "that it was something that I can support".
“So, I would like to commend the sponsors, the leadership in listening to the inputs, not just from this representation and other colleagues but also from the public and the stakeholders. So, thank you for that. I feel like this is now a much, much better version and I think it’s something that I can support. The answers were very clear and addressed. I think many of my concerns, in fact, I think the public’s concern,” he said.
"Nakikinig and mga congressman at congresswoman dito sa Kongreso. Umiral po ang demokrasya (The congressmen and congresswomen here in Congress are listening. Democracy prevailed)," added the Visayas solon.
Daza's top concerns regarding the original bill was the designation of pension agencies Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) as fund sources for the MIF, as well as the tapping of the Philippine President as the chairman of the board of the would-be Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC).
“Two weeks ago, when I voiced out my concerns and in fact my objections on some of the provisions, it appears and we’ve been assured that at least for this representation, all my concerns have been addressed: GSIS and SSS have been deleted as a source of funding, the national budget, the two percent cap, additional independent directors, there’s even punitive of sections. So, 20 percent of net profit will go to social services,” Daza noted before the plenary.
He also hailed the increase, from two to four, of the independent directors in the proposed MIC.