Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos has signed legislation to formally create the first sovereign wealth fund in the Southeast Asian nation.
He described the wealth fund, called the Maharlika Investment Fund, as “a bold step towards the country’s economic transformation”.
“For the first time in the history of the Philippines, we now have a sovereign wealth fund designed to drive economic development,” he said at the signing ceremony for the Maharlika Investment Fund Act in Manila on July 18.
The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives last November by House Speaker Ferdinan Romualdez and Representative Sandro Marcos, the president’s eldest son.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing. The original version called for seed money for the wealth fund to come from four state-owned institutions, including the Government Service Insurance System, a pension fund for civil servants, and the Social Security System, a pension fund for private sector employees and the self-employed.
But lawmakers were concerned that having the pension funds put in money would put retirement savings at risk in case of mismanagement at the Maharlika Investment Fund.
The final version of the legislation states that the pension funds will not be required to contribute seed money.
