ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PBBM's suspension of Maharlika fund shows it was 'rushed and flawed'--Castro

PBBM's suspension of Maharlika fund shows it was 'rushed and flawed'--Castro

Published Oct 18, 2023 04:13 am

At A Glance

  • President Marcos' suspension of the implementation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) shows that it was "rushed and flawed", says House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro .

IMG-98c226944d1fbc6c2ddac99e80b006d7-V.jpgACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (Rep. Castro's office)

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Marcos' suspension of the implementation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) shows that it was "rushed and flawed". 

Thus, said House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro Wednesday morning, Oct. 18, a few hours after Malacañang decided to put MiF in the freezer. 

"It would be better if President Marcos Jr. just scrapped the whole Maharlika law rather than just suspend it. As Bayan Muna executive vice-president Carlos Isagani Zarate said last week 'The Marcos administration placed in grave danger the Land Bank of rhe Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) respective capitals after the  twin state-run depositary banks were required to finance the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF)," Castro said. 

The MIF is basically the country’s first sovereign wealth fund. Its passage was pursued by the House in late November 2022. 

It was signed into law by President Marcos into law as Republic Act (RA) No.11954 on July 18, 2023. 

"Ito talaga ang hirap sa minadaling batas ng Maharlika fund kaya hindi gaanong naaral at mukhang lalo lang maglulugmok sa kahirapan dahil pera ng bayan ang nakataya at maging ang pinaghirapang ipon ng mga kliyente ng Landbank at DBP," said the Makabayan solon. 

(This is the problem with the rushed law that is the Maharlika fund. It doesn't appear to have been studied well and could further sink Filipinos in poverty since it will utilize the hard-earned funds of the Landbank and DBP.) 

 

MIF TIMELINE

https://mb.com.ph/2022/12/11/a-short-timeline-maharlika-wealth-fund

 

 

Castro says that in the end, the MIF will create a lot of problems with no guaranteed benefit to the Filipino people. 

"Sa simula pa lang ay sablay na talaga ang [MIF] dahil wala namang tayong excess fund para dito. Pangalawa, ay mula pa sa pera ng bayan ang ipopondo dito sa halip na gamitin sa mga batayang serbisyo para sa mamamayan.Pangatlo, maski ang pagsertipika dito as urgent ay di sumunod sa proseso. Pang-apat mga appointee pa din ng Pangulo ang mamamahala dito at bukas ito sa korapsyon," she said. 

(This MIF was a mistake from the start since we don't have excess funds for it. Second, we will divert public funds for social services just to bankroll it. Third, it's certification as urgent didn't follow the process. Fourth, appointees of the President will still govern it and it's still open to corruption.)

MIF proponents had expected the law to be up and running by the end of the year.

Related Tags

ACT-Teachers Party-list Maharlika Investment fund PBBM FRANCE CASTRO
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.