President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. on Wednesday certified the Senate version of the bill seeking to establish a Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) as urgent.
Marcos’ certification of the immediate enactment of Senate Bill 2020 or An Act Establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund was stipulated in his letter dated May 22 and addressed to Senate President Juan Miguel 'Migz' Zubiri.
In the letter, the President cited the downgrade of this year's global growth on account of inflation and unstable fuel prices due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
"[T]here is a compelling need for a sustainable national investment fund as a new growth catalyst to accelerate the implementation of strategic and high-impact large infrastructure projects that will stimulate economic activity and development," he underscored.
In December last year, the President also certified House Bill No. 6398, the Congress’ version of the MIF bill.
In his earlier message to the House, Marcos said he certified the bill "in order to establish a sustainable national investment fund as a strategic mechanism for strengthening the investment activities of top performing government financial institutions, and thus pump-prime economic growth and social development."
Following the certification, the House of Representatives swiftly approved the measure, which was principally authored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, on its third and final reading last December 15.
The Maharlika Investment Act aims to create a sovereign wealth fund that will be utilized by the national government for investments.
The overall investment returns or the money that will be reaped will be allocated for government programs and long-term projects such as dams, electric grids, and among others.
