House Speaker Martin Romualdez is forecasting the Senate’s passage of its very own Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Bill soon, perhaps "after Easter".
"I understand I have a funny feeling in the Senate it will pass soon. Maybe after Easter, baka tapos na yan (maybe it'll be done by that time)," Romualdez told Manila-based reporters in Japan during a press briefing Friday night, Feb. 10.
"Because they saw na the draft eh (they already saw the draft). The draft went from a draft to the one that we passed...'Uy maganda na to (Oh this is good already). There are a few questions still and that's what we're asking the Senators to do," he said.
Easter Sunday this year falls on April 9.
The 24-member Senate began its deliberation on the MIF Bill or proposed Philippine sovereign wealth fund (SWF) last week.
The House, which have over 300 members, already passed its version of the controversial bill on third and final reading back on Dec. 15. In fact, the congressmen only needed 18 days to get the MIF measure (House Bill No.6608) through the legislative mill.
But Romualdez--one of the main authors of the MIF Bill--said he's open to seeing the senators "perfect" or at the very least improve upon the measure.
"We all know that the SWF will be a magnet for foreign investments di ba? (right?) You know, it'll attract a lot of people pverseas because they usually say we've been hearing good things about the Philippines. Where can we invest?" he said.
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"We in Congress (House) were able to pass it with dispatch and obviously thanks to all the contributions and you know, all the great ideas of our other fellow congressmen, and of course, from the public, through you, through the media," Romualdez added.
The Leyte 1st district representative is part of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s official delegation in his ongoing trip to Japan.
Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri also joined the trip.