President Marcos has told the international community that the Philippines first investment fund—Maharlika Investment Fund— is run by professionals and not by the government.
It is similar to the assurance he gave the public when he signed it into law in July this year.
"[I]t will be run as a fund. It is not run by the government. It is run by professional fund managers and that is one of the main assurances that I had to give," Marcos said when asked about the fund during the conversation segment at the Asia Summit 2023 in Singapore on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
He stressed that it has always been the concept behind the controversial fund that was filed in the House of Representatives on Nov. 28, 2022 and signed into law eight months later.
"But that was always the concept behind it. The main assurance that we had to give was that it’s not going to --- because when the politicians get involved, then the decisions are no longer purely financial in nature and that causes failure, I think. And it doesn't make it an efficient management of the fund," he added.
The President said the Maharlika Fund would allow the country to invest more without increasing borrowings.
He explained that although the Philippines' borrowings are not as high as its neighboring countries and it has been getting assistance from financing institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Singapore Temasek, the government was compelled to establish the Maharlika Fund.
"So, we said, we need to invest more and where can we get funding to invest more without increasing our borrowings? And so, we looked internally and saw what are the reserves that we have that are not being — at least in our view, were not being used," he said.
"I think we all are familiar with the concept that money cannot sit in the bank and do nothing, it must work," he added.
The Chief Executive said the fund will go into infrastructure, power development, and healthcare, among others.
He added that the government needs to transform agriculture, energy, ease of doing business, and tax structure.
Marcos flew to Singapore on his birthday for a "working visit."
READ MORE: Marcos tells int'l community: 'PH is dedicated to peaceful relations'