Finance professionals to run Maharlika fund, says Marcos Jr.

MANILA, Philippines —  Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the public that the management of the controversial sovereign investment fund will be made by finance professionals, despite outsized concerns from civil society and academics.

The pronouncement on Thursday spotlighted governance concerns surrounding the Maharlika investment fund, which economic managers hoped will be passed into law before July 24. 

“We made sure that it is independent from government,” the president said.

Marcos Jr. admitted that one of the changes he initally proposed to the House committee was to remove the Philippine president as part of the Maharlika’s board.

Likewise, the president said he sought to remove the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor and the Department of Finance from the board’s management “because it has to operate as an independent fund well-managed professionally.”

The strongly-worded paper penned by faculty members of the University of the Philippines School of Economics blasted the fund’s governance structure.

The paper highlighted the Maharlika’s proposed governance structure could open the “floodgates for political interference, mismanagement, and corruption.”

The fund’s management structure underwent several changes as it hurdled the scrutiny of House and Senate lawmakers. In Senate Bill 1814, the board of directors numbered at 15 but the Senate Bill 2020 trimmed it to nine directors, with three coming from the private sector.

“Decisions made for the fund are made by finance professionals,” Marcos Jr. added.

After all, the Maharlika fund will be using taxpayers' funds, among others, to get sizeable returns for its investment. The Marcos Jr. administration said they will use returns from the sovereign wealth fund to bankroll infrastructure projects and programs, despite staunch opposition from experts to use the pooled funds directly. — Ramon Royandoyan