MANILA: An economist on Monday said enhancing transparency, accountability and disclosure would allay concerns of mismanagement, corruption and other political motivations surrounding the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
During a Laging Handa public briefing, economist Michael Batu said the MIF bill would require fine-tuning in the aspect of reporting transactions and investments to avoid a similar fate as Malaysia’s corruption-riddled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Batu said there was a failure of reporting suspicious and risky transactions in the 1MDB financial scandal.
“Para ma-trace natin kung mayroong corruption sa mga sovereign wealth fund, kailangan makita natin kung saan dinala iyong pera; kung ano iyong pinag-invest-an. So para makita natin iyan kung ano iyong mga companies na pinag-invest-an, kailangan malaman natin iyong pangalan ng mga companies na iyon. Is the Maharlika Investment Corporation willing to disclose kung saan mga companies nila in-invest iyong pera ng bayan (In order to trace if there is corruption in sovereign wealth funds, we need to see where the money goes, where it is invested. So we need to know the names of these companies. Is the Maharlika Investment Corporation willing to disclose which companies it invested the public funds in?),” he said.
The disclosure, he said, would dispel distrust and help in tracing or preventing fraudulent and risky investments.
“Alam naman natin kapag risky may chance na malulugi iyong fund. So, kailangang malinaw sa atin saka sa mga auditors kung saan dinala iyong pera (We know that if it is risky, there is a chance that the fund may lose money. So, it is important for the public and the auditors to know where they are investing the funds),” he said.
He said the financial statements of the Maharlika Investment Corporation should also be made public for disclosure purposes.
“Gaano kadalas ang reporting? How often are they going to report? Are they going to do reporting every six months or annual? Kailangan malinaw iyon, hindi puwedeng malabo sa batas iyon. Kailangan malinaw kung gaano kadalas silang mag-report (It should be made clear in the proposed law how often they should report),” he said.
Batu said sovereign wealth funds are made effective if they adhere to standards of transparency and accountability.
“Iyong failure ng Sovereign Wealth Fund na iyan, magpi-fail iyan kung magkaroon ng failure in accountability at magkaroon ng failure in transparency; kumbaga may corruption tapos hindi natin kaagad nakita. Ang mangyayari niyan ay magkakaroon ng failure in fund, sayang lang iyong pagkakataon. Kaya habang maaga pa lang, habang dini-deliberate pa lang ito at pinag-uusapan ay pinuhin na natin at ayusin na natin para maging successful itong sovereign wealth fund na ito (A sovereign wealth fund would fail if there is failure in accountability and transparency; in other words, if corruption is not detected early on. There would be a failure in fund, and the opportunity is lost. That’s why it is important to fine-tune this proposal during deliberations [in the Senate] to make this sovereign wealth fund successful),” he said.
In terms of political motivation, Batu suggested making the name of the Maharlika Investment Fund politically neutral.
“Ako ay nagagandahan sa pangalang Maharlika, maganda siyang pangalan, although may mga iba tayong kababayan na kapag narinig na Maharlika ay associated sa mga Marcoses at mayroong nabi-bring na mga positive at negative memories sa pangalan na iyan. Pero kung ako ang tatanungin mo, (I personally think that Maharlika is a good name, although other Filipinos might associate it to the Marcoses and bring out positive and negative memories to the name. If you were to ask me, why not consider making the name Maharlika into something apolitical,” he said.
He recommended naming it the Philippine Strategic Investment Fund, since its neutral name could apply to several administrations and not entirely associated to a political program or one politician.
HB 6608, which is principally authored by Romualdez, called for the establishment of the MIF to promote economic development by making strategic and profitable investments in key sectors. It also earmarked at least 25 percent of the net profits of the MIC for social welfare programs.
It was approved on final reading last Thursday with 279 affirmative votes, six against and no abstentions after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified the passage of the bill as urgent
Source: Philippines News Agency
