Supreme Court junks petition vs Maharlika bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC), convened as a whole, has junked the petition of progressive groups to void President Marcos’ certifying as urgent the proposed legislation creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).

In a resolution dated Feb. 28, 2023 and signed by clerk of court Marife Lomibao-Cuevas, the court said there was “no actual case or controversy” when the President certified the bill as an urgent measure.

The certification paved the way for the measure’s passage at the House of Representatives

and its transmittal to the Senate in December last year.

Petitioners from the Makabayan bloc comprising Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, Gabriela and Kabataan party-list groups alleged that the bill creating a sovereign investment fund was railroaded in the House.

But the court said the Makabayan bloc’s petition was premature because the bill has yet to become a law as it is still pending before the Senate.

In a motion filed on Wednesday, the militant groups asked the SC to reconsider its decision, saying the “most opportune moment to question a presidential act” is “before the bill becomes a law.”

In their petition, they maintained that the President’s certification of the bill as an urgent measure was invalid, because of the absence of a public calamity or emergency as required under the Constitution.

“There is no actual case or controversy here, nor is the dispute ripe for adjudication. Colmenares et al.’s mere allegation of the unconstitutionality of the President’s certification of HB 6608 and the passage of the bill by the House are not sufficient to warrant review by the court,” the SC said in its six-page notice of resolution.

“Without an actual case or controversy ripe for adjudication, the Court sees no reason to give due course to the premature petition or to even rule on the merits of petitioners’ contentions,” it added.

In their motion for reconsideration, the Makabayan bloc urged the court to “resolve whether or not the allegation of abuse of the presidential power to shortcut the deliberative legislative processes through baseless certifications of calamity or emergency, is a breach of the Constitution – and therefore, must stop.”

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has described the MIF as the country’s first-ever sovereign investment fund “designed to promote economic development by making strategic and profitable investments in key sectors.”

Being eyed as major sources of capital of the proposed wealth fund are the government-run Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.