MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the middle of his third visit to the United States, reacted on the sentiments behind the appointment of the chief of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), his pet project.
“I don’t know where we relaxed anything. Quite the contrary, hinigpitan natin (we actually tightened the rules),” Marcos told reporters at the sidelines of the the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco on Saturday, November 18.
Marcos claimed that the difference between the first and the last draft of the Maharlika Investment Fund’s (MIF) “were only the powers of the board.”
“Paulit-ulit ko ngang sinasabi (I have been repeatedly saying this), I do not want political forces to interfere with financial decisions of the investment fund. And so there were powers, there were authorities that were being still granted to the government side,” the president said.
The Marcos pet project aims to get seed capital from government banks, like the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other government revenue sources “to promote socio-economic development.” The law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR), which will govern how the law will be implemented, was released less than a month since Marcos supposedly suspended the MIF’s implementation.
Concerns were raised over the MIF’s revised IRR because the new rules actually removed multiple sections of specific safeguards, and gave these to the Maharlika’s board of directors to specify much of the responsibilities of the audit and risk management committee. In more simple terms, the MIC’s board has much more power over what the audit and risk management committee can do. (READ: New Maharlika IRR removes specific safeguards, eases requirements for top positions)
Marcos also named seasoned corporate finance expert Rafael Consing Jr. as the head of the MIC. But if for not the adjustments made in the appointment rules, Marcos would not be able to pick Consing.
On the concerns that the president has now the power to accept and reject board nominees, Marcos replied: “Well, we hold the controlling interest, we are government. It’s like think of a corporation, ‘yong pinakamalaking kapital (the one with the largest capital) – the one with the largest capital interest is the one that has the most votes. So, that’s what happens.”
“Ganoon lang naman kasimple ‘yan (It’s that simple). It’s not really an unusual arrangement. It’s a perfectly proportional arrangement,” the president added.
Under the new IRR on Maharlika, the president now has the power to decide who gets to run Maharlika, which includes the ability to reject the shortlist of candidates presented. Rappler was told by government sources that the Maharlika fund was suspended earlier to allow Marcos to look into the selection process of applicants and nominees for the MIC. — Rappler.com
