THE citizenship of the President and CEO (PCEO) of the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) must always be Filipino in compliance with existing rules and regulations governing government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), finance officials said.
Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the PCEO of the MIC, which is mandated to manage the country’s sovereign investment fund, should be Filipino under the fit and proper rule of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG).
Furthermore, since MIC is owned and controlled by the Philippine government, then it is only fitting that its head should be a Filipino, Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati C. Dorotan-Tiuseco said.
“Hindi puwedeng hindi Pinoy (ang PCEO). Dapat Pinoy ka because of the fit and proper rule of the GCG,” Diokno said in a recent press briefing. [It cannot be that the PCEO is not Filipino. It should be Filipino under the GCG’s fit and proper rule.]
The GCG serves as the regulatory oversight body of all GOCCs nationwide.
Under GCG Memorandum Circular 2012-05 (“Fit and Proper Rule for appointive directors and CEOs of GOCCs”), the minimum qualification for both directors and CEOs of GOCCs is that they must be a Filipino citizen.
Under the Maharlika Investment Fund Act, the MIC is a GOCC.
Nonetheless, Diokno pointed out that the independent directors of the MIC, however, can be foreign citizens. He cited the case of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, who sits in the board of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Ltd., which manages the city-state’s sovereign wealth fund.
The Maharlika Secretariat has started accepting applications and nominations for the PCEO and board seats of MIC last week. The application period will close on September 27. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/09/07/applications-for-mic-ceodirectors-being-accepted/)
“A lot of people are inquiring already, seeking clarifications with the requirements,” Monetary Board Member Rosalia V. De Leon said.
De Leon, who was part of the group that drafted the Maharlika Investment Fund’s implementing rules and regulations, disclosed that there will be a panel interview for the applicants of MIC positions.
The MIC is eyed to be operational before the year ends. Diokno said the priority is to complete the MIC’s board of directors, get an office, create a logo and hire a staff of about 50 people to hit the ground running.
