Sandro House Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos

Rep. Marcos defends House on MWF issue

December 5, 2022 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 323 views

HOUSE Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos on Monday defended the decision of the House of Representatives to pursue the enactment of a Philippine sovereign wealth fund, specifically the proposed P275-billion Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF).

“Well, if you think about it, this isn’t a new idea. Sec. (Benjamin) Diokno already said they were looking at it during the time of [President Rodrigo] Duterte. If I’m not mistaken, former Senator Bam Aquino filed a bill in 2016 trying to do the same thing,” Marcos told House reporters following the Bicameral Conference Committee meeting on the 2023 national budget on Monday.

“My guess is because hindi naipasa dahil patapos na ‘yung administrasyon ni former president PNoy. I believe senator JV [Ejercito] also, nag-file ng bill. So it’s not a new idea,” Marcos said.

“So yes, it became apparent that the President was in support of creating a sovereign wealth fund but the idea did not come from him per se. Because this is something that has been in the works or something that’s been pushed by not even this administration but past administrations,” he added.

“It just so happens na-suwertehan kami na kakasimula lang ng administrasyon so we have six years to hopefully be able to craft a piece of legislation that will see out and go beyond the President’s term,” he noted.

“Like I said, I think part of the reason was that, of course, it’s been politicized, but the whole point of this exercise is that this corporation will be free from politics. That’s why it needs to be run by technocrats; wala silang interes sa pulitika,” he said.

“Yes, the President will be chairman of the board, but…you have to look at it beyond this administration. This is not something for the next six years, this is something that will keep on going,” Marcos said.

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