PHILIPPINES, May 31 - Press Release
May 31, 2023

Transcript of Interview - Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" F. Zubiri

Q: Sir, balikan ko lang po yung Legislative Wage Hike. Paano po ang specifics, graduated scheme noon? Can you walk us through how you exactly imagine the graduated scheme?

SENATE PRESIDENT JUAN MIGUEL "MIGZ" ZUBIRI: Kaya wala na kayong kakabahan pa. kasi ang haka-haka, baka ipasok daw yung GSIS, SSS, wala na po yan. It is explicitly said twice in the bill, and there is an explicit ban on the use of these funds for Maharlika. So we also put very strict compliance on the selection nitong mga members of the board, advisory council. Napakabigat, parang Judiciary Bar Council, yung advisory board ang pipili ng ilang pwedeng maging president at CEO diyan, at doon pipili si Presidente. Ibig sabihin, may dadaan pang proseso. Hindi lang pwedeng sabihin ng presidente na ito ang kukunin ko. Hindi po, may proseso pa na magbibigay ng top five names, or top three names ang advisory board, of which the president can choose from. So, there is a venting process. There is a vetting process, rather, for the officers of the Maharlika Fund. And then, ang penal provisions umabot yata ng two pages, two-to-three pages, yung penalties, yung mga of course, mga parusa, na pag itong nangyari, may embezzlement, ito yung parusa, ito yung hatol...nilagay po namin yung provisions on the law, the plunder law, so pag may nagnakaw ng over P50 million, automatic po, plunder yan. Non-bailable, makukulong ng 20 years at hanggang habang-buhay, so nailagay po natin lahat yan. For me, it is a triumph of the Senate, because we (unclear) the House version tremendously, we thank the House for accepting the Senate version with all the safeguards. Pwede po natin ipaglaban ito sa Plaza Miranda. Kasi sa dami ng safeguards, pati ang Minority, admittedly, of course, they against it, and they voted against it, but they were very happy that we accepted almost all the safeguards that possibly could be placed in this measure.

Q: Kagabi ba may abiso ang House na ia-adopt ang Senate version kaya nag schedule pa rin ng Bicam?

SP ZUBIRI: Yes, automatic naman yun, dahil tapos naman yung House of Representatives so automatic that once we approved it last night, we were sure that there would be a Bicam, so we elected immediately yung members of our Bicam. We had a pre-bicam meeting this lunchtime, at pumayag po, nandoon po si Speaker Martin Romualdez, at pumayag po siya na iadopt ang Senate version. Kaya napabilis yung adoption and this afternoon, iraratify na po natin.

Q: May ratification pa rin?

SP ZUBIRI: Yes, because we have Bicam. Bicam approval yun, means it has to be ratified this afternoon.

Q: Kahit same version na?

SP ZUBIRI: Yes, kasi iraratify pa rin yun. Kasi may isang style amendment lang, mga wrong spelling...

Q: Paki clarify lang po yung pagkukunan ng funds?

SP ZUBIRI: I think marami... I think it is enumerated there, I think yung mga nitty-gritty na detalye, kay Senator Mark na lang kayo magtanong about these details. Mga akin lang, I was very happy that the safeguards were in place. So that was my number one concern, and we all crossed party lines, (unclear) dito sa Senado na mailagay yun. And I am thankful also to Senator Mark Villar for a job well done, at sa pag accept nitong mga amendments na ito. Initially, medyo skeptical siya, natatakot siya, baka mag react ang economic team, but after a long conversation, di ba nag break po kami kahapon nung dinner. Kasama namin yung economic managers, and we really reiterated to them that this Maharlika fund is not only for this administration. It is for the next ten administrations. I mean, this will outlive us, kasi 35 years old itong kumpaniya na ito, the Maharlika Investment Corporations. We wanted to make sure that there are safeguards in place for possible abuse in the future. At pumayag sila.

I think that was the number one clincher there na pumayag sila. And with that, smooth sailing na. So, accept na lang ng accept ng amendments si Senator Mark Villar, and we were able to proceed quicker during the period of amendments. I am very proud of this measure, I am very proud of the Senate version, because of the safeguards that we put in place. Kaya nananawagan ako sa ating mga kababayan, wag sila mag alala, lahat na ng safeguards na mailalagay po namin, nailagay namin, From the selection of the officers, talagang may vetting process, to the almost two to three pages of penal provisions and the punishment if there is misuse of the funds, to the reiteration of the different laws under the penal code and under the special laws creating the Plunder law, the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and several other laws that are under the auspices or sakop po ang mga public servants. Gusto po natin idagdag wala na pong contribution.

Bawal na bawal po mag contribute and GSIS, and SSS, ang Philhealth and Pagibig and PVAO, yun yung veterans fund at yung OWWA fund. So itong mga tinatawag natin na private funds or trust funds in the hands of government, under the protection of government kase ito po ay kaltas sa atin, hindi po magagamit ng Maharlika kahit ano mang panahon, not mandatory not voluntary. So we want to put that on record para sa pangamba ng ating mga kababayan hindi na po mangyayari.

Q: Kasama pa din ang Landbank at DBP

SP ZUBIRI: Yes, yung Lanbank and DBP kasama sila but its going to be their investable funds. So yung iniinvest lang nila. So it's remains still landbank, DBM at Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas sa investable funds nila. When you say investible funds ano na parang Neto na neto na yan ang pwede nilang gamitin for investment. Saka may percentage hindi lahat.

Q: Hindi affected yung kanilang operation?

SP ZUBIRI: Not at all. Not at all

Q: Wala na kayong nakikitang rason para i-raise ito sa Supreme Court?

SP ZUBIRI: Well, alam mo lahat naman ng batas namin may nag que-question paminsan minsan sa Supreme Court. I'm sure people will raise it, but I'm sure we can stand the test of judicial scrutiny by the Supreme Court.

Q: You mentioned kanina may penalties for misuse of funds. But Sen Koko raise the very reckless nap ag invest...?

SP ZUBIRI: It's there, It's part of the law. It's part of the last two pages of the law. As a matter of fact, Sen. Risa (Hontiveros) wanted to add an amendment yesterday on embezzlement, but that is already under the penal code eh. We reiterated the penal code section these, that... so naka ano na, naka highlight na yun kasama diyan yung estafa, syndicated estafa. Syndicated estafa yun eh, ang point nyan kung nag ta-trabaho kayo sa Maharlika investment fund nagnakaw kayo ng pera doon, you'll be under several laws. You'll be under the plunder law, graft and corrupt practices act and of course law governing syndicated estafa which by the ay is also non-bailable. So, napakatindi, as a matter of fact kung akong yung taga private sector at binasa ko yan baka matakot ako pumasok o sumali dyan, baka kumonti yugn mag apply. Kase yung gusto nating bantayan yung pera ng investors, particularly the government funds.

Q: On absence of test of economic viability ang ibinigay lang sa inyo ay business proposal

SP ZUBIRI: I think there are about less than a hundred, maybe 90 plus countries that have sovereign wealth funds and under these 90 countries iisa lang naman ang nakita naming pumalpak, which is the Malaysia, kase racketeer naman talaga ng nag setup nun, si Joe Low, na inid na mahanap ng Malaysian government. That is why we are learning from that mistake but almost 99 percent of other sovereign wealth funds have been very successful. Have Temasek foundation for one and many others who have invested heavily invested in their countries and in other funds kung saan lumago yung pera nila. So let's give it a chance. I think some people are saying hindi natin kayang magmanagement ng ganyan, hindi kaya ng Pilipino yan. You know, why do we put the Filipino down? Diba, madaming Pilipino sa United Nations, sa World Bank, sa WHO, sa IMF, sa Asian Development Bank na magagaling and they are well-respected and reputable people. These are the same people that we will sue to run the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), our sovereign wealth fund, let's give the Filipino a chance to show that we are better than just being laborers, who are juts better being hired individuals. We are going make this Maharlika Investment fund work for the country. There's already several discussions they plan to invest in on toll bridges, for example like the Bataan-Cavite. That will decongest Metro Manila and could be a toll bridge magandang investment yan. It would be the second longest bridge in the world. Diba ang gandang tignan nun. Ang ganda nung pride natin nun na proud na proud tayo. It's going to be second longest compared to the Macau-Hongkong bridge and going to bring so much economy for region 3 and NCR kase magkakadugtong na yan.and nededecongest na tayo sa traffic dahil lahat ng dumadaan galling Bataan, from the ports of Bataan, Subic, Clark Zambales, hindi na po kailangan dumaan ng Metro Manila, Quezon City at Edsa. Sila po ay dadaan na dun sa Tulay na yun.

It will be the second longest bridge in the world. Second longest bridge diba ang gandang tingnan nun? Ang ganda ng pride natin nun, proud na proud tayo. It's going to be the second longest compared to the Macau-Hongkong Bridge, iyon ang pinakamahaba eh. And it's going to bring so much economy for Region 3 and NCR kasi magkadugtong na iyan. Made-decongest na tayo sa traffic dahil lahat ng dumadaan galing Bataan, from the ports of Bataan, Pampanga, Subic, Clark, sa Zambales, hindi na po kailangang dumaan ng Metro Manila at Quezon City at Edsa. Sila po ay dadaan na sa tulay na iyon. That's only one. We are looking at the Iloilo-Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge. They are looking at more tollways. We are investing into the Philippines in major infrastructure projects na hindi po natin magawa sa General Appropriations Act. We don't have enough funds to fund those projects.

Q: Yung concern na parang ia-assume na ng MIF yung mga ginagawa ng lawmakers?

SP ZUBIRI: No, we did not transfer any power to the MIF. For example, they are increasing capitalization? They have to go back to Congress for approval.

Q: Even yung malalaking projects?

SP ZUBIRI: We have a joint oversight committee that will review periodically, every quarter, every three months yung proposed projects po nila. And they are also under the scrutiny of government agencies, ng COA, under sila ng COA. They have to pay taxes para walang undue disadvantage yung mga private companies. Kasi sabi ng private companies, how can we bid for these toll projects kung tax-free sila, mas maganda yung offer nila diba. They will be subjected to taxes like any regular agency. That way, there is still competition. It's not a monopoly, may competition pa sa iba't iabng projects na gusto nilang pasukan. With this version, noong umpisa, pagtingin namin medyo marami pang nagdududa na miyembro but after the amendments given by Sen. Legarda, Sen. Chiz Escudero, the Minority, Sen. Risa, Sen. Koko, Sen. Sonny Angara, Tol Tolentino, Joel Villanueva, Pia Cayetano, ang dami pong magagandang amendments ni Sen. Pia, Sen. Tulfo maganda rin yung mga amendments nya. Siya ang isa sa mga tumulak na walang GSIS, SSS, and all these funds. So maganda ang synergy kagabi at ang kalalabasan nito, it's a very nice bill. It's adopted by the House of Representatives.

Q: Sir, magkakaroon ba ng Tagalog version as requested by Sen. Robin?

SP ZUBIRI: Why not? Alam mo, that is our national language kaya kanina during the bicam, there was a plan to remove those provisions. Sabi ko no, sariling wika natin ito. Therefore, that's our national language. That is supposed to be our primary language. So we insisted on keeping a provision saying that it will be both available in Filipino and in English. I-translate lang iyon.

Q: Merong nagpapa-remove ng provision na ita-Tagalog?

SP ZUBIRI: Yung mga lawyers kasi sabi nila there might be some legal lingo or legal language na mahirap translate sa Tagalog. Sabi ko Taglish na lang. Kung walang word na Tagalog, gamitin na lang English and continue with the rest.

Q: During the bicam meron pa bang ni-negotiate or agad um-OK na ang House?

SP ZUBIRI: OK na. On our way there pa lang, Secretary Mina Pangandaman texted me, let me show you... Good morning, this was 10:52 am. House of Representatives accepts all. Congratulations and thanks for the trust. Wonderful news. Secretary Mina Pangandaman of DBM. Photo-ops na lang po sila later.

Q: Nagkaroon ba ng effort to convince them na i-adopt?

SP ZUBIRI: No, not at all because they were convinced before we actually got there.

Q: Inadopt din ba nila yung estension ng estate tax amnesty?

SP ZUBIRI: Yes, adopted na. Tapos na yun. I think the House adopted our version.

Q: Dahil inadopt na nila iraratify pa?

SP ZUBIRI: Hindi na. Pag na-adopt na nila, hinid na. Later we will just have a paper bicam for Maharlika Investment Fund and that's it, we ratify it today. Nandito yung mga SEA Games, we will give them their honors.

Q: No need na po for another session tomorrow?

SP ZUBIRI: No need. Wala na last na kayo.