Maharlika fund moves forward at Senate as committee hearings end
MANILA, Philippines — Bills that seek to create the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund have moved forward in the Senate as Sen. Mark Villar ended public hearings by his committee and referred the measures to a technical working group.
Villar adjourned Monday the public hearings on the Maharlika fund and sent the bills that want to establish it to a TWG which will meet virtually on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
“There are still many details that have to be threshed out on the bill,” Villar said during Monday’s hearing. “I propose that we refer the bill to a technical working group so that we can harmonize the various concerns that have been brought up during our hearings.”
Villar, who is among the two authors of the Maharlika bills in the Senate along with Sen. Raffy Tulfo, appeared determined to end the hearings as he earlier brushed aside Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ motion to invite the think tank Action for Economic Reforms to the next public hearing.
“We’re scheduling a technical working group meeting already, so we can invite them to that. They can submit a position paper and they can bring their concerns,” Villar said.
The Maharlika bill is among 10 priority bills that Malacañang and legislative leaders identified earlier this month that Congress should aim to pass before it adjourns sine die on June 2.
While the LEDAC has identified the Maharlika fund as a priority which may grease the legislative mill and hasten its passage in the Senate, it is not a guarantee that it will be swiftly approved.
Over the course of three hearings, senators raised concerns about investment gains, the proposed fund’s governance structure, its effects on the capitalization of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, supposed overlaps with the government’s investment arm and the auditing of foreign investments.
It also faces stiff opposition from the two-member Senate minority bloc, whose leader Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III vowed to block passage.
But the potency of the minority is in question given their lack of numbers in the chamber dominated by allies of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
This was seen when they tried and failed to pry the Maharlika fund from Villar’s panel and send it to the government corporations committee chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
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