Government earnings or royalties from the Malampaya gas-to-power project may be tapped for the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a lawmaker said.
Cong. Irwin Tieng, Manila 5th District Representative and Chair of the House banks and financial intermediaries, made the confirmation during an interpellation in the House of Representatives, according to a report by GMA News Online.
Citing Section 11 of the MIF bill, Tieng said that the other sources of the MIF will include: “royalties/and or special assessments on natural resources based on the fiscal regime to be implemented by the national government, proceeds from the privatization of government assets and public borrowings.”
Tieng stressed that what the bill’s authors mentioned are royalties from oil exploration like the Malampaya, as well as the privatization of government assets. He further explained that this will still be subject to the approval of the advisory board and the MIF Board of Directors.
ACT Teachers party-list representative and Deputy Minority Leader France Castro warned against the use of Malamapaya’s earnings for other purposes other than what was stated in the law.
Under the law, Castro said that the Malampaya fund should be spent on energy development projects.
Malampaya’s Service Contract (SC) 38 will expire on February 23, 2024, and is also seen to be completely depleted by 2027.
Should Malamapya’s contract be extended, Prime Infra will be drilling an exploratory well, and two operational wells in the field. It will also conduct a round of seismic surveys within the covered blocks.
MIF, a proposed measure under House Bill 6608, looks to maximize investible- funds of state-run financial institutions by means of investments with the aim of increasing public funds.
