Former senator Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino has questioned the timing of the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act proposal or the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
Aquino issued the statement after former president and now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pronounced that sovereign investment fund is “not new” as he first introduced this in 2016.
In a statement, Aquino said the SWF bill he filed was utterly different from the one being pushed in Congress recently.
He said when he introduced the bill back then, the country's economy was doing well, the economic growth was high, and the government debt and inflation rates were both low.
“Ngayon, bumagal ang ekonomiya dahil sa pandemya, at mataas ang presyo ng bilihin. Marami sa mga kababayan natin ang nangangailangan ng tulong sa pang-araw-araw na gastusin ng kanilang pamilya,” Aquino said.
“Palagay ko, mas kailangang mabigyang prayoridad ito dahil ito talaga ang hinahanap at kailangan ng ating mga kababayan,” he added.
The former senator also said that a sovereign wealth fund extracts sources from the surplus of the national budget and not the pension of workers.
Under House bill 6398 written and filed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Php 25 billion will extracted from the national budget while the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank), and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will contribute a total of Php 250 billion.
The collected fund will be used to boost the country's investment activities in order to raise revenues and support government programs.
“May pagkakataon ang Senado na baguhin ang mga problemadong probisyon, ayusin ang timing ng batas, maglagay ng safeguard sa korapsyon at siguraduhing pabor ang batas sa nakararaming Pilipino,” Aquino underlined.
