House has overwhelming votes to pass Maharlika Fund: Romualdez

“So, we are very happy that a number of congressmen who were not keen on it, or critical, are now joining and not just supporting the bill, but joining us because there are inputs and insights that’s been integrated into the bill,” he added. (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill in the House of Representatives has overwhelming multi-partisan support as more lawmakers have expressed their desire to be included among the co-authors of the measure.

“The Majority Floor Leader (Manuel Jose Dalipe) told me that we had over 220 [co-authors] and I think by the time I get back, baka umabot na ng (it might already reach) 250. So, there will be over two-thirds of the House who will be co-authoring because there have been exhaustive briefings not just by the economic managers, not just by the GFIs (government financial institutions), but a lot of technical expertise in this matter,” he said in a press briefing Tuesday morning (Philippine time) on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) commemorative summit in Brussels, Belgium.

“So, we are very happy that a number of congressmen who were not keen on it, or critical, are now joining and not just supporting the bill, but joining us because there are inputs and insights that’s been integrated into the bill,” he added.

Even before the opening of the plenary deliberations on House Bill No. 6608 last Monday, several party leaders voiced their support for the passage of the bill following amendments that removed the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) as mandatory sources of seed money to start the MIF.

In a rare move, even House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Representative Paul Daza (Samar, 1st District), who earlier voiced concern against the measure, lauded on Monday the proponents of the bill led by Romualdez for introducing such changes, saying it shows the lawmakers are listening to the people and that democracy is working.

As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, a total of 246 lawmakers have already signified intention to co-author the bill, according to the House official records.

“We are very excited for it and I see that two-thirds of the House who have already seen the wisdom and you know the benefits to the country and to the people as a whole, so we’re quite excited for this,” Romualdez said.

Maharlika Fund to help address power crisis, agri needs

In the same briefing, Romualdez said the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) may be tapped by the government to address the power crisis and agriculture needs of the country.

“We have a lot of other ideas on how to use this fund to actually help the power crisis, the agriculture needs of the country,” Romualdez said.

He emphasized that the whole purpose of setting up a sovereign wealth fund is to provide the capital and vehicle which can bring further development and benefits to people.

“And as they say, especially when it comes to capital investment, size does matter. You need scale to participate in large projects, whether infrastructure, power even in the agricultural sector, you need, massive, capital,” Romualdez said.

He said pooling the capital coming from idle funds of government financial institutions (GFIs) and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) is a good way to provide the needed economy of scale to invest in such projects.

Furthermore, Romualdez said investing in a sovereign fund such as the MIF in a particular sector would likely attract private investors to come in.

Up to PBBM to certify MIF bill as urgent

But despite having the numbers in the House to pass HB 6608, Romualdez said it is still up to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. if he wants to certify the bill as urgent so it could be approved on third and final reading before the House adjourns for its Christmas break.

“Well, that’s up to him (President Marcos),” Romualdez said when asked if the President wants to ensure swift passage of the bill in the House.

By certifying the bill as urgent, the House can dispense with the three-day rule – the provision in the Constitution that no bill shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days.

Thus, if Marcos certifies the bill as urgent, the House can approve the measure on the second and third reading within the same day.

The House is set to adjourn its session this week.