Before departing for Saudi Arabia, President Marcos clarified that the implementation of the Maharlika Investment Fund will proceed as planned this year.

The suspension of its implementing rules and regulation (IRR) was only made to find ways to "make it as close to perfect and ideal as possible," specifically on the organizational structure of the Fund, Marcos said.

"I was a bit alarmed by the news reports early this morning that I read in the newspapers that we have put the Maharlika Fund on hold. Quite the contrary," the President said in his departure speech on Thursday, Oct. 19.  

"We are—the organization of the Maharlika Fund proceeds apace, and what I have done though, is that we have found more improvements we can make, specifically (in) the organizational structure of the Maharlika Fund," he added.

The Chief Executive made the statement after issuing a memorandum to suspend the IRR of the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund "pending further study."

He pointed out that the concept of the Fund remains "a good one" and the suspension of the implementation of the IRR should not be misinterpreted as a judgment of the "rightness or wrongness of the Maharlika fund."

It will still be operational before 2023 ends, he added.

"The concept of the Maharlika Fund as a sovereign fund, an investment fund, the concept remains a good one and we are still committed to having it operational before the end of the year," Marcos said.

"So we should not misinterpret what we have done as somehow as a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of the Maharlika fund. On the contrary, we are just finding ways to make it as close to perfect and ideal as possible, and that was what we have done," Marcos added.

The suspension was issued, he said, in consultation with the country's economic managers and the people who will actually be involved in the Fund, underscoring that "their inputs have been very important" and prompts him to "utilize them to make it a better organization" now.

He also mentioned that they are encouraged by the reaction of the Middle East, which he will be visiting until Oct. 21, over the Maharlika Fund. He is also expected to present the Fund to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its businesses.

The President departed for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday to participate at the inaugural Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit.