Philippine lawmakers have proposed a $4.9 billion sovereign wealth fund to be chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to boost growth.
Congressmen Sandro Marcos and Martin Romualdez — the president’s son and cousin respectively — are among the six authors of the bill filed to the House of Representatives and will be examined by two committees before being debated in the house.
The “Maharlika Investments Fund” (MIF) would be seeded with 275 billion pesos from government financial institutions, including two pension funds and two banks, according to the latest version of the bill.
It would help the Marcos administration achieve its goals of getting the Philippine economy to “soar to greater heights in spite of external shocks”, the authors wrote.
The word “maharlika” is widely associated with Marcos Jr’s late father.
Under the proposed bill, MIF funds would be “exempt from any regulatory restrictions”.
Investment options would include financial derivatives, equities and “other investments as may be approved by the Board”.
Congressman Joey Salceda, who leads the technical working group examining the bill, told AFP the fund’s governing board would be chaired by the president.
Former president Gloria Arroyo, who has backed the bill, said that was a “powerful statement that the highest official of the land will hold himself as ultimately accountable to the Filipino people for the performance of the Fund”. Agence France-Presse
