‘Salaries of Maharlika top posts should be at par with private sector’

MANILA, Philippines — The compensation for highly technical positions within state-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) should be comparable to the private sector in order to fulfill the mandate of the sovereign wealth fund.

During the pre-State of the Nation Address Special (SONA) of PTV yesterday, MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing said the MIC Board is still studying and discussing the remuneration package for MIC employees.

Based on the law, MIC positions were divided into two: non-technical and highly technical.

Non-technical positions are similar to the usual government employees who will be covered by the compensation and position classification system (CPCS).

The CPCS aims to provide a standardized compensation package and index of occupational services, position titles and salary grades for all GOCCs like MIC.

“The law also gives us the power to designate highly technical positions. We need those who will bring in experience and technical expertise to fulfill the mandate of Maharlika,” Consing said.

“And if it’s highly technical, it should be comparable to the private sector. That will be our investment team,” he said.

Earlier this week, The STAR reported that Consing was asking for salaries for himself and some technical positions that were claimed to be “too high” by the economic team.

For Consing alone, a source within the economic team said that he asked for a basic pay of P2.5 million per month.

During the pre-SONA special, Consing did not elaborate how much is the acceptable salary package for highly technical positions.

“The GOCCs and GFIs (government financial institutions) who have investment roles and put money in the stock market or bond market, that’s easy,” Consing said.

“But private equity, mergers and acquisitions, those are very different skills and those are not available in the government right now,” he said.

Consing argued that those skills are what the MIC needs, noting that it is important for the public to know why it was laid out in the law.

“There is a need to compensate for the highly technical ones comparable to the private sector,” he said.

Meanwhile, the MIC chief emphasized that the corporation is now in the process of hiring and interviewing potential candidates.

Consing said he expects 50 to 60 percent of the MIC manpower to be completed in the next two to three months.

“The demand for people is very high in terms of the skills that we need,” Consing said.