Transmittal of Maharlika fund bill to Malacañang eyed this week
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said he expects the enrolled copy of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill to reach Malacañang this week for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s signature.
Marcos had earlier certified the MIF bill, Senate Bill No. 2020 as urgent.
But as of now, Villanueva said the bill is not yet an enrolled bill as the Senate secretariat is still in the process of finalizing the bill.
“They are still in the process of cleaning up the bill, finalizing the typographical errors and other clerical errors and to avoid inconsistencies,” the majority leader said.
An error in the bill, particularly the provision in Section 50 and 51, regarding the prescriptive period for crimes have been noted by lawmakers. Section 50 mandates a 10-year prescription, while Section 51 mandates a 20-year prescription.
But Villanueva said Sen. Mark Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, author and sponsor of the measure, has already clarified the issue.
He said Villar had written Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri to reiterate that the prescriptive period for crimes is 10 years as it was agreed upon during the plenary debates.
“You have to realize that yung perfecting amendments will come into play with the typo errors, having two sections, considering that during the deliberations of the period of amendments, the sponsor reiterated the firm position of the committee that they are firm with the 10-year prescription,” he said.
“I don’t want to say just a typographical error, but I think it is more of the real essence of that particular provision. It is what the committee approved. It is what the plenary approved. It is what the members of the Senate wanted during deliberations of this particular measure,” he stressed.