The national government is open to striking joint ventures with the country’s richest Filipinos once the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) becomes operational. ‘We’re hopeful. Iyon pong mga conglomerates natin, we can also do some joint ventures, co-investments sa mga infrastructure projects (We can also do some joint ventures with our conglomerates, co-investments in infrastructure projects),’ National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said in a news forum on Saturday. De Leon, however, assured that the soon-to-be-formed Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) would properly evaluate each investment. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Thursday that Malacañang would scrutinize the revisions in the MIF bill but promised to sign the measure as soon as he gets it. De Leon said the MIC board of directors would craft investment and risk management strategies where the public could see the possible returns of the projects. ‘Dadaan din po iyan sa very rigorous screening process – ano iyong mga magiging return ng mga projects na iyon, ano bang mga risk. Mayroon ding risk mitigating measures na ia-identify to ensure na mamu-monitor very well and at the same time, adjust all those risks (It will go through a very rigorous screening process – what will be the returns and risks. There are also risk mitigating measures that would be identified to ensure that we can monitor and at the same time adjust all those risks),’ she said. De Leon assured that all projects would go through a procurement process and that the only exemption is on the technical aspect or soliciting technical advice. She, however, said there is no information yet as to what percentage of the proposed sovereign wealth fund would be allocated to infrastructure projects. The Marcos administration has at least 194 flagship infrastructure projects amounting to PHP9 trillion. ‘Dadaan pa rin po tayo sa procurement process. So, doon pa lang po ay makikita natin na talagang marami pong mga pagsusuri at pag-i-evaluate para po iyong pong mga projects, mga investment na papasukin ni Maharlika is already complying – is within the investment strategy po na in-approve po ng board (It will still pass through a procurement process. So, with that alone, we can see that it will be assessed thoroughly and that the investment we will venture into complies with the investment strategy that would be approved by the board),’ she added. To allay fears, she reiterated that social security institutions, such as the GSIS, SSS, Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth are prohibited from investing in the MIF and the corporation. In addition, no funding for social development projects, such as services, health care, and education would be tapped in the MIF. ‘(D)oon sa Senado, na-emphasize din na iyon pong MIF will really be investing iyong mga sustainable endeavors. So, marami pong improvements na nailagay po doon sa legislation from the Senate version (At the Senate, they emphasized that the MIF will be investing in sustainable endeavors. There are a lot of improvements made in the Senate version),’ de Leon said. ‘(M)ayroon pong iha-hire na external auditor to look also into the operations at financial performance ng MIF plus magri-report sa oversight committee (An external auditor would be hired to also look into the operations and financial performance of the MIF).’ Seven members each from the Senate and House of Representatives would be assigned to the Joint Oversight Committee to monitor the viability and the financial performance of the MIC and the MIF, she said.
Source: Philippines News Agency