Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday, October 22 supported calls for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to return the contributions given by the LandBank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to the respective banks and just abandon the project.

The two banks, which earlier sought regulatory relief for flexibility to comply with the capitalization requirement set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), should have their money back otherwise, these funds would just remain dormant at the Bureau of Treasury.

Pimentel noted that the money is already beyond the reach of the LandBank and DBP and that the whole P75-billion contribution is already out of the hands of the LBP and DBP Board and they could no longer decide on it.

“Ako nanindigan pa rin ako na unconstitional yan. So, therefore, i-abandon na lang nila yang Maharlika project (I maintain my belief that the MIF is unconstitutional. So therefore, they should just abandon the Maharlika project),” Pimentel said in an interview on Radio DZBB.

“So, in the meantime, to be practical, isauli na muna yung P50-billion na binigay ng Landbank, ibalik na muna sa LBP, yung P25-billion na binigay ng DBP ibalik na rin muna sa DBP, kasi otherwise, matagal tagal na panahon yang matutulog dyan (they should return the P50-billion contribution of the Landbank, and the P25-billion given by the DBP. Because, otherwise, the money will remain sleeping at the national treasury for a long time),” Pimentel said.

“Kasi meron silang pine-perfect ang presidente. Ang executive branch meron silang pine-perfect. Hindi klaro kung ano yung, tapos mayroon pa rin tayong kelangan i-organize yang korporasyon na yan, tapos may kaso pa sa Supreme Court (The President said they are still perfecting it. The Executive branch said they are perfecting something on the law which is not clear. And they still have to organize the corporation. Also, there is still a case pending before the SC),” he pointed out.

Pimentel is one of the petitioners who asked the High Court to put a stop to the implementation of the law through a temporary restraining order (TRO), writ of preliminary injunction, or status quo ante order.

The minority leader, together with Bayan Muna Party-list Chairperson Neri Colmenares and other Bayan Muna representatives, have warned that the MIF is a “dangerous law” that would transfer hundreds of billions of public funds into a fund that would be managed by the Maharlike Investment Corp. (MIC) which, until now, has yet to be formed.

Last Wednesday, the President suspended the implementation of the MIF, with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin claiming that Marcos wants a thorough study on the sovereign investment fund’s implementation.

But the next day, before leaving for Saudi Arabia, the President clarified that the administration will push through with the implementation of the MIF, and will continue to promote the country’s sovereign fund internationally.

As far as he is concerned, Pimentel said state economic managers of the Marcos administration should start auditing how many of the pledges on the MIF have already materialized.

It is also necessary, he said, for the Executive department to identify what they intend to “revise” or “perfect” in the Maharlika law, as they had claimed.

“Actually, malayo pa ito bago maging operational itong MIC. Kailangan mamili ng board, tapos, magha-hire pa ng manager. Meron silang mga investor experts na iha-hire, biili ng computer nila. Buwan or taon pa ito. So matagal-tagal matutulog ang pera ng Landbank at DBP kasi wala pa ang board. Wala pa ang layo pa (The supposed MIC will still take time before it becomes operational. They still have to choose the Board, then they have to hire managers. They still have to hire investor experts and buy computers. It will take months or years before it materializes. So Landbank and DBP’s money will just remain dormant at the treasury),” he pointed out.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, for her part, said she can still vouch that the MIF will prove beneficial for the country in the end as the government can use the funds for projects that cannot be provided under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“I think gagamitin nila yang MIF na equity ng government tapos hahanap sila ng investor para magawa yung malalaking project na necessary for the development of the Philippines (I think they will use the government equity on the MIF and then will look for investors to finance big-ticket projects that are necessary for the development of the Philippines),” Villar said in an interview on Radyo 630.

“Kaya lang kailangan magaling ang mangma-manage (However, they should look for someone who can manage it effectively),” she said.

“It is important na may pang equity tayo para pag may pumasok na mag-iinvest na international organization, we can put up the equity,” she added.