Proposed P2.5 million salary delays Maharlika organizational structure

MANILA, Philippines — The seemingly high asking salary of state-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which could surpass some of the highest paid officials at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), caused the delay in the organizational structure of the sovereign wealth fund.

Sources within the economic team told The STAR that MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing, a topnotch investment banker, asked for salaries for himself and some technical positions that were claimed “too high.”

For Consing alone, one source said that he asked for a basic pay of P2.5 million per month, higher than that of members of the Monetary Board and close to what BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. is receiving.

Remolona topped the list of highest paid executives in the government last year.

“Everything that he is asking for the technical positions and for himself are high, above BSP,” the source said.

“How do we justify to the public a salary structure that’s even higher than BSP when you have yet to prove anything?” the source said.

Based on the 2023 Commission on Audit report on government salaries and allowances, Remolona received a net pay of P35.48 million last year or about P2.95 million per month.

Remolona received P5.97 million for six months as governor or roughly P995,000 per month in basic salary and P3.3 million as Monetary Board member for another six months or about P550,000 monthly.

This is on top of allowances, bonuses, incentives and benefits, discretionary and extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses, as well as additional compensation and honorarium.

The STAR sought Consing’s comment on the matter but he did not respond.

The STAR also learned that Consing defended his proposed salary, noting that a sovereign wealth fund is a different market that needs better pay to be able to recruit people.

But this was dodged by concerned government officials, arguing that this can be gradually increased later on once investments start coming in.

Meanwhile, another senior official explained that the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) is now waiting for Consing to submit a revised interim staffing pattern (ISP), one that should be approved by the MIC Board.

This is precisely because the previous proposal on salary was not accepted.

The ISP should involve the proper classification of positions and corresponding pay grade.

Upon submission of the revised ISP, this will be acted upon by the GCG en banc, which includes the secretaries of the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management.

This will then be submitted to President Marcos for approval.

Sought for comment, Budget Secretary and GCG en banc member Amenah Pangandaman just said GCG and MIC are “discussing and crunching the numbers.”

“We are making sure that the compensation structure of the MIC is comparable with the market to attract and retain talent, but at the same time sustainable in the long run considering that MIC is our first SWF,” Pangandaman told The STAR.

Meanwhile, a separate source in constant dealing with the MIC said Consing may be having difficulties on how the government works such as on procurement processes.

“We don’t meddle on where he will invest the money but all documentation must be clean because Maharlika is already controversial in the first place,” the source said.

“I can understand how frustrating it is from the private sector coming in, all of the government requirements but the thing is we need this. MIC is still a GOCC, you have to comply with everything,” the source added.