House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)
House Speaker Martin Romualdez is confident about the constitutionality of the recently-enacted Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Law. Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district representative, had this to say during a press briefing Saturday afternoon, July 22 in Makati City. The House leader was asked whether or not he was confident that the law would pass the scrutiny of the Supreme Court (SC) should critics question it there. "Opo. Madali yan kasi sa totoo lang ang daming abogado ay naki contribute po sa ating Maharlika (Yes. That will be easy because in truth, a lot of lawyers contributed to our Maharlika)," Romualdez said. He said that, when it comes to the MIF, the proof of the pudding "is in the eating". "Bago bumaba si President Ferdinand ["Bongbong"] R. Marcos [Jr.] (Before President Marcos steps down), I think we will be so happy that we did this. Magsisisi lang tayo bakit hindi natin ginawa noon pa (We will regret that we didn't do it sooner)," he said. Romualdez said that Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund began with a seed capital of only $1 billion. "I think [it] rose to $230 billion in less than two years". Signed by President Marcos into law last July 18, Republic Act (RA) No.11954 or the MIF is the Philippines' first ever sovereign wealth fund. The MIF seeks to create a new revenue stream for the Philippine government aside from the usual taxes. The profits of the fund will be used to bankroll big-ticket projects. Romualdez was the prime mover of the MIF in the House of Representatives.