Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Thursday, June 8, said that the only viable course of action for Congress to fix some serious errors in the “hastily-approved” Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill is to recall its approval and bring it back to the plenary session for reconsideration.
“Congress’s imprimatur is needed to rectify the MIF. The discrepancies and ambiguities found in the approved bill cannot be corrected without the risk of falsification of legislative documents,” Pimentel said.
The 1990 Bar topnotcher was referring to what he described as “glaring errors and discrepancies” in the MIF bill that Congress passed before it adjourned sine die last June 1.
Pimentel had earlier cited, for instance, the different terms and prescriptive periods found on Sections 50 and 51 of MIF, saying that it could be that the intention might really be two different things – for which only the plenary can clarify.
“Recalling the approval of the MIF and returning it to the floor is the sole remedy left for Congress if it is to correct and clarify the discrepancies and ambiguous provisions in the MIF. There is no shortcut,” he stressed.
“We must take the necessary steps to rectify the errors and save the President from signing an erroneous bill into law,” Pimentel said.
“The consequences of the President signing a bill containing glaring errors can be significant,” he added.
By returning it to Congress, there would be more opportunities to fine-tune the measure and clarify ambiguities surrounding the “hastily-enacted” MIF, according to Pimentel.
Pimentel said, however, that the bill is unsalvageable and reiterated his opposition to the measure.
Earlier, the Senate chief fiscalizer had said that the secretariat of both houses of Congress are not allowed to change the words embedded into the measure by elected officials of Congress.
Pimentel had earlier warned of potential legal cases such as “falsification of legislative documents” if the text of the bill, that both houses of Congress had already passed on third reading, was changed.
He cited Article 170 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits falsification of legislative documents, states that the penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period of fine not exceeding P1,200,000 shall be imposed upon any person who, without proper authority therefor alters any bill, resolution, or ordinance enacted or approved or pending approval of either House of Congress or any provincial board or municipal council.