A day after its launch, more than 20,000 people already signed a petition to stop the passage of House Bill (HB) 6398 or the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
Launched on Change.org, the petition was started by David Michael San Juan, who cited 13 reasons why HB 6398 should be opposed.
As of 12 noon on December 5, a total of 22,662 have already signed the petition. The petition targets to gather 25,000 signatories.
Among the reasons why the proposed measure should be opposed as cited in the petition was the allegation that the bill has no clear and solid provision for ample worker representation in the fund’s governing body. The petition noted that the bulk of the fund will technically come from the pooled contributions of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) members.
The petition also stated that the Land Bank of the Philippines’s and the Development Bank of the Philippines’s funds would also be used for the MIF.
“That would drastically limit the funds which the said government banks could lend to micro, small and medium enterprises, the backbone of our economy, in terms of job generation, and ordinary citizens,” it stated.
The petition read that the GSIS and the SSS are able to invest pooled members’ contributions into so many things even without the sovereign fund in place and that the bill would only further bloat existing bureaucracy that gobbles up millions if not billions of unnecessary administrative expenses.
“The bill allows investments on “Financial derivatives.” These are high-risk investments! Have they forgotten 2008?,” the petition said.
Moreover, it said that the proposed measure has no mechanism to directly give profits to the people, especially the SSS and GSIS members, whose hard-earned money will be used to fund the MIF.
“Profits would instead be channeled to the government financial institutions. And the profits are not even guaranteed,” the petition stated.
As the bill allows the fund to draw from the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) or supplemental appropriations, this can possibly reduce available funds for vital social services such as healthcare, education and housing, among others, the petition read.
Moreover, the petition said the bill contains no provision to prioritize investments in “green” jobs creation, especially in the renewable energy sector, agricultural modernization, and industrialization, which could potentially limit any real national benefits from the fund’s operations.
In sum, the petition said the bill’s provision on rewards and incentives for bureaucrats “is capricious and dangerous without stronger provisions on public accountability of the fund’s administrators.”
