Lawmakers in the current 19th Congress weren't the first to propose the creation of a Philippine sovereign wealth fund.
Senior Deputy Speaker and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shared this trivia in a statement Monday morning, Dec. 5, wherein she defended the wisdom behind House Bill (HB) No.6398 or the proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) Act.
"Sovereign wealth funds are not new. Singapore, for example, has had Temasek Holdings since 1974 and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation since 1981," Arroyo said.
"There are more than 20 sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East. Even in the Philippines, the idea is not new – then-Senator-Benigno “Bam” Aquino filed a bill to create such a fund in 2016," she noted.
Principally authored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, HB No.6398 spells out the P275-billion MWF as the country’s own sovereign wealth fund.
"The success of any fund, sovereign or private, lies in the quality of its management. In the current version of the Maharlika Wealth Fund, the President of the Philippines chairs its governing board. This is a powerful statement that the highest official of the land will hold himself as ultimately accountable to the Filipino people for the performance of the fund," said Arroyo.
"Once the fund is operational, the President will also be able to count on advice from the Department of Finance (DOF), the nation’s steward of sound fiscal policy," noted the Pampanga 2nd district congresswoman.
According to Arroyo, the Philippines historically has had a good track record insofar as its DOF secretaries are concerned, "so this is a valuable resource that our country can count on as available.
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"The government always has funds to invest, such as financial assets of government financial institutions (GFIs) or the reserves of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)," she stressed.
To raise the P275-billion initial investment fund, P125 billion will be provided by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), P50 billion each by the Social Security System (SSS) and Landbank of the Philippines (LBP), P25 billion by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and P25 billion by the National Treasurer.