SPEAKER Martin G. Romualdez has welcomed the openness of the Senate to the measure approved by the House of Representatives seeking the creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).

“I have no doubt that our senators share our vision and purpose in advocating this fund, which aims to sustain our economic growth so we could generate more job and income opportunities for our people,” Speaker Romualdez said.

“Together, the Senate and the House, along with the executive branch, can pave the way for more investments in our country through the MIF,” he said.

Speaker Romualdez was reacting to the statements of Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Majority Leader Joel Villanueva that House Bill (HB) No. 6608, which seeks the creation of the MIF, is among the bills that the Senate will deliberate when Congress resumes its session next month.

Also part of the list, according to Zubiri and Villanueva, are several bills approved by the House, including one that would condone unpaid loans obtained by tens of thousands of beneficiaries of agrarian reform programs undertaken from the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1972.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has expressed support for the MIF.

In fact, President Marcos has even said he was the one who floated the idea of creating a sovereign wealth fund.

“It’s very clear that we need added investments. This is another way to get that…For sure, I would not have brought it up otherwise,” President Marcos told reporters on his trip to Belgium two weeks ago.

Speaker Romualdez has said HB No. 6608, of which he is the principal author, contains safeguards against corruption, abuse, and misuse of the MIF.

Among these are provisions that promote transparency and accountability in the fund’s management, which would include a strong public-private sector representation.

A nationwide survey conducted by data research firm Tangere last December 8 to 10 showed half of Filipinos support the proposed MIF.

The poll was taken before the House approved HB No. 6608 on December 15.

According to Martin Peñaflor, Tangere founder and chief executive officer, 2,010 or 83.75 percent of the 2,400 respondents were aware of the MIF bill.

He said of those aware, 54.08 percent either strongly supported (21.84 percent) or somewhat supported (32.24 percent) the bill’s passage into law, while 21.34 percent were neutral and 24.58 percent either somewhat or strongly opposed the measure.