Senators on Wednesday, Oct. 18, welcomed President Marcos' move to suspend the implementation of the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).

Seeking further study of the law, Marcos issued the suspension through a memorandum from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. Bersamin signed the memorandum by the authority of the President on Oct. 12.

Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said that the President’s wisdom should be trusted in making this "prudent" move.

"I believe that he or his economic team had good and valid reasons to study the measure further," he added.

Zubiri stated that this decision was a presidential prerogative that the Chief Executive chose to exercise early in its application.

"Every policy has a pause button, or like a car, it is equipped with a brake or can be put in park. The President has the wheel. It is up to him whether to step on the gas or to slow down," he said.

"When so much money is at stake, it is better to proceed with an abundance of caution than to be reckless," he added.

Zubiri also mentioned that during the debates on the Maharlika bill, they reminded the executive of the need for responsible stewardship, and, in fact, installed safeguards against fund placements that would result in losses.

For Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, the suspension is a "very good" development, stating that the law has a lot of defects.

"The concept has not been fully studied from the very start. Hence we should not wonder why apparently the law is not ready for implementation. Good that the Marcos administration appears to listen to reason," he told reporters.

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the decision to suspend the implementation of the MIF Act is welcome news for all Filipinos and for our vulnerable economy.

"I hope that the suspension of the rollout of the Maharlika Investment Fund means that the President is starting to heed our warnings," she said in a statement.

"Indeed many provisions of the MIF Act require further study. My own view, of course is that it is beyond repair  - because the law was rushed, and the Philippines is simply not ready at this moment to support a wealth fund," she added.

Diokno misled the Senate--Hontiveros

Hontiveros stated that it is now clear that Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno "misled" the Senate when he said that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (LBP) had excess funds that were idle and could be used for the MIF.

"At best, he simply did not have the competence to understand the repercussions of messing with the finances of Land Bank and DBP. Dati pa naman siyang BSP Governor (He even used to be the BSP Governor)," she said.

The MIF, among its many flaws, according to the senator, is now poised to reduce the LBP and DBP's capacity to provide loans for farmers, fisherfolk and agri-entrepreneurs by more than P700 billion - or ten times the capital that will be taken from them. 

"As it turns out, the Bangko Sentral’s position is that DBP and Land Bank will need to be recapitalized. Saan kukunin yan? E di uutangin (Where will they get it? From loans of course)," she added.

Hontiveros also mentioned the suspension of the MIF Act must stand until every flaw or concern raised about the law has been reviewed, adding that the government should never be reckless with the people's hard-earned money.

Meanwhile, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said that the suspensions was proof that the law that had been enacted by Congress needed further study. The senator thanked the President for seeing it and the flaws or deficiencies that must be tended to or cleared up in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

He adds that what must also be cleared up is what the MIF aims to achieve. For the senator, this has not been clearly answered in the long discussion that lawmakers had about it, given also the fact that there were pending Supreme Court (SC) petitions regarding its economic viability.

Escudero also questioned if the capital put in place by Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) which was deposited to the National Treasury is of any benefit to the government.

He also mentioned that the current administration will not benefit from this.

"Bongbong will never benefit from this, it's too early, any investment that they will make will not have any difference in the next four to five years," he added.