‘Grave concerns’ raised over...

even in his first State of the Nation Address.

“Where did this idea come from? Is it possible that we are doing this as a favor to a businessman who has access to the ears of the powers that be, whose business or bottom line has been hit by the downturn in the world economy and thus would need a new client?” the senator asked.

The MIF was also not cited in the Marcos administration’s Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, or the initial list of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), according to Pimentel.

“We will hopefully know the identity of this big-time influencer in due time,” Pimentel added.

Crony capitalism

Interpellations on SB 2020 wrapped up past midnight on Tuesday just as Pimentel pressed to continue his questioning on other issues, to which the sponsor, Sen. Mark Villar, objected.

Villar said all issues on the bill that might be raised by Pimentel could be addressed in the period of amendments. In his speech, Pimentel warned that the MIF, which would be run by a Maharlika Investment Corp. whose board members are handpicked by Malacañang, was prone to the “evil of crony capitalism.”

“Since the MIC can invest in the domestic market, it can therefore choose the ‘winners and losers’ among our domestic industries, enterprises, and business people,” he pointed out.

Pimentel said creating the MIF posed a great risk for the country because of its history of corruption, citing the 2022 Global Corruption Index which ranked the Philippines 105 out of 196 countries.

“It even mentioned that financial aid programs during the pandemic created opportunities for corruption and bribery. Here in the Philippines, the misery and poverty of the people is taken advantage of for profits,” he said.

He also cited the constitutional requirement of a certification on the economic viability of establishing the MIF.

Pimentel also questioned the “clever maneuver” that proponents did when they took out the provision requiring the pension institutions from the original bill but inserted a substitute provision allowing voluntary investment.

“I thought they listened to the concerns of the public, but they executed a clever maneuver and the danger is still there that the conservatively managed pension and retirement funds of our retirees from the government and the private sectors, will be entrusted to the [MIF] for riskier placements, or in other words, for gambling,” he said.

No need to panic

In Malacañang, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday dismissed

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