There is no need to recall the approval of House Bill (HB) No.6608 or the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
Thus, said House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda on Sunday, Jan. 22 in direct response to a statement made by MIF critic, Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman.
"A recall is unnecessary. The House bill went through the process," Salceda said.
Last Friday, Jan. 20, Salceda bared in an interview that the MIF had been "rewritten and reengineered" by a four-member panel sometime after Christmas, Dec. 25. This was 10 days after the 300-strong House passed the measure on third and final reading.
Lagman, an independent minority solon, said this development warranted the recall of the measure to the chamber to allow its members to examine the changes made.
Salceda was part of the panel.
"The version being proposed by the expert group is not a correction of the House version, but a response to the clamor of many international funds that they be given greater room to participate. That is precisely because they found the idea viable to begin with," the ways and means panel chairman said.
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https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/21/lagman-wants-house-mif-approval-recalled-after-salceda-bares-new-version/
Asked to identify other members of the group behind the "new" MIF, Salceda opted to keep mum.
"I will be having succeeding meetings with high level officials as Congress resumes session, so that group is likely to expand by the time the bill with these revisions is finished and proposed to Senators for filing. I don’t want to preempt anything until then," he said.
House members will return to session on Monday, Jan. 23. This ends their five-week holiday break.