MANILA -- The proposed Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023, which got stalled in the Senate secretariat due to its conflicting prescription period of crimes provisions, will soon be transmitted to the Office of the President as an “enrolled bill,” Sen. JV Ejercito said Tuesday.

• EXPLAINER: The Maharlika Investment Fund, as approved by Congress

“Yung latest is, I know that the enrolled copy of the bill is now already ready for the signature of Senate President (Juan Miguel Zubiri). After which, it will be transmitted to Malacañang... That’s the latest update that we got from the legis (legislative staff of the Senate),” Ejercito said.

The lawmaking process, however, requires any Congress-approved bill to be signed first by the sitting House Speaker and Senate President before it can be formally submitted to the Office of the President as an “enrolled bill.”

Zubiri is still attending series of official meetings in the United States.

According to Ejercito, the status of the Maharlika bill moved because the Senate Secretariat was able to iron out the supposed errors in the President’s certified measure, primarily typographical and grammatical.

Ejercito, however, cannot say if the so-called corrected errors include the bill’s Sections 50 and 51, which carry 10 and 20 years, respectively, as the prescription period of crimes for those who will violate the Maharlika Act once it takes effect into a law.

“That I was not able to check. But for sure the Senate legis will do the work na talaga. Sisiguraduhin natin na what will be forwarded to Malacañang wala nang gusot

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the only senator who registered a “no” vote against the Maharlika bill, maintained that the government does not need a sovereign wealth fund to bring in progress to the nation.

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