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Mission impossible? Senate minority to do all it can to block MIF passage

Published May 27, 2023 09:23 am  |  Updated May 27, 2023 09:23 am
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III (Senate PRIB)


The Senate minority bloc will do everything it can to prevent the passage of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Bill next week, or just before the Senate  goes into sine die adjournment on May 31. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III assured that his bloc would follow Senate rules in throwing roadblocks to the approval of the measure being sponsored by Senator Mark Villar, chairman of the Senate Banks Committee. The measure is doomed to fail, he added. Senator Nancy Binay said there is a need to amend the MIF Bill based on the debates on the Senate floor. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri had expressed confidence that the MIF bill would be passed by the Senate next week. During a DWIZ radio interview, Pimentel, himself a former Senate President, questioned the certification by President Ferdinand ‘’Bonging’’ Marcos Jr. of the MIF Bill as’’urgent’’ in a bid to hasten its passage by the upper chamber. ‘’Certification di dapat sundin kasi alinsunod sa Constitution, dapat kung may emergency lang or calamity (The certification by the President should not be followed because under the Constitution, the certification is issued only in case of emergency or calamity),’’ he pointed out. Pimentel said his bloc would deliver its ‘’torno en contra’’ speech next week, a procedure which has not been used in the Senate. Based on Senate floor discussions so far, investments to the MIF Bill by the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and PhilHealth would be voluntary. However, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) will invest P25 billion and P50 billion, respectively, to the MIF Bill. Pimentel said this concept would veer away from the original ‘’Sovereign fund’’ concept of the MIF to an investment fund. As a ‘’sovereign fund,’’ the government must have surplus money, he added. Senator Francis ‘’Chiz’’ Escudero said the investment funds of DBP and Land Bank to the MIF must  earn more than six percent which is the current interest rate. Pimentel said the money to be invested in MIF is now a mixed bag of government and private sector which is ‘’very far’’ from the original concept of a sovereign fund. He then stressed the need to convince the majority bloc to side with him and Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros to vote ‘’No’’ to the MIF Bill. The bar topnotcher emphasized that passage of the MIF bill is not urgent. He cited the case of Norway which took them 12 years to discuss the sovereign fund concept and finalize the measure. Pimentel said Norway did not use arm twisting tactics and did not rush the passage of their measure. ‘’Mali lahat eh, pati ideya mali (It is all wrong, even the idea is wrong,’’ he added, referring to the Philippine MIF Bill.

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Aquilino Pimentel III Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF)
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