Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday, December 16 criticized the apparent haste in which the President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his allies in the House of Representatives railroaded the approval of the proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund bill calling it “premature” and a “misplaced priority.”
“This Maharlika wealth fund is premature, and a misplaced priority. Distracted na naman tayo (We are again, distracted),” Hontiveros said in a statement.
The proposed law, which seeks the creation of the Maharlika Investments Fund (MIF), breezed through on third and final reading on Thursday, December 15.
This happened a day after President Marcos certified the measure as urgent and less than a month since administration lawmakers, led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, filed the measure.
Hontiveros, Senate deputy minority leader, said the Marcos administration could have pushed first for bills that seek to boost the country’s economy and strengthen the government’s socio-economic programs.
“Certify urgent? Eh kung ang gawin munang urgent kaya ay ang pag baba ng presyo ng pagkain para may disenteng Noche Buena, ang pagtaas ng sweldo ng mga manggagawa lalo ang mga teacher at health workers, at ang ayuda sa matatanda, solo parents at mga may kapansanan? (What if the first urgent thing to do is to lower the price of food to have a decent Noche Buena, increase the salary of workers especially teachers and health workers, and provide assistance to the elderly, single parents and the disabled)?” the senator lamented.
“Our economy is already hurting now, imagine the world of pain we'll be in if we rush head first into a P250-billion mistake,” she further said.
In a separate statement, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also slammed Malacañang for “speeding up things” that could potentially be detrimental to the future generation of Filipinos.
“Superficially a certification of urgency of necessity will really give the impression that we need to ‘speed up things’,” Pimentel said.
“I hope this will not be the feeling in the Senate. The Maharlika Fund will have extensive effects and ramifications not only to our generation but potentially to future generations of Filipinos. Hence this should not be rushed. Haste makes waste,” he further said.