At P2.5 million monthly salary being asked by Maharlika Investment Corp. President and CEO Rafael Consing, this amount is atrocious and wicked for a country that is reeling from poverty, high unemployment and underemployment, a crisis in education, a yawning housing gap, a country in deep debt here and abroad and a healthcare system that is elusive to the masses.
Sources within the economic team told media that MIC president and CEO 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 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.
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.
Consing, who did not respond to media queries on the matter, 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.
“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.
Consing reportedly also wants to impose the standard government pay for its non-technical staff and for its highly technical staff the compensation should be at par with private sector rates, both of which would never approximate a six-digit figure (unlike his requested seven digits).
Employees' salaries
At a pre-SONA event aired by PTV Tuesday, July 16, Consing said the MIC Board is still studying and discussing the remuneration package for MIC employees, which 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), that 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.
He did not mention what is the acceptable salary package for highly technical positions.
“The GOCCs (government owned and controlled corporations) 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, which are exactly the skills needed at MIC, citing why it was specified and laid out in the law creating MIC,” he said.
“There is a need to compensate for the highly technical ones comparable to the private sector,” he said as he mentioned that MIC is now hiring and interviewing potential candidates.
He 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.
Economic boost?
Relatedly, Consing explained that the wealth fund aims to become an engine for economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction by pursuing a dual mandate of financial returns and socio-economic development.
“The MIC is a sovereign wealth fund established by the government to invest and generate returns,” Consing said.
Citing a study by Maybank, Consing said the MIF’s investments could have a multiplier effect of 2.1, meaning every peso invested could yield a return of 2.1 to 2.5 pesos. This economic boost, he said, is expected to create jobs and reduce poverty.
MIC’s priority investment is improving electricity services, particularly in rural areas where over half the population resides to attract further investments and increase incomes in these regions, ultimately stimulating consumer spending.
Established under Republic Act 11954, the MIF has the flexibility to invest in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, bonds, joint ventures, real estate, and infrastructure projects promoting sustainable development.
Consing said the MIC is targeting its first investment before the end of the year, subject to the approval of its investment and risk management framework by the board thisThursday
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.
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.
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