Marcos gives go-signal for hiring of non-technical employees at Maharlika Investment Corp.
The state-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) may now start hiring employees, although for non-technical roles, that it needs to run the country’s first sovereign wealth fund.
Marius Corpus, the chairman of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), told reporters on Monday that President Marcos had given his approval of the “interim staffing pattern” for non-technical posts at the MIC, meaning the company can now start recruiting to fill such roles.
Corpus said there are roughly 42 non-technical positions that are vacant at the MIC. These workers are covered by the compensation and position classification system (CPCS) like typical government employees.
The CPCS defines the minimum and maximum pay for each job grade in the government.
The President’s approval will finally allow the MIC to build the manpower it needs, over a year since the law creating the sovereign wealth fund was enacted. The state-run corporation’s first employee, MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing, had initially hoped for the organizational structure to be approved as early as the first quarter of 2024.
But the difficult part is getting the staffing pattern and compensation package approved for technical roles. Corpus said he hoped this would finally be approved by the president early next year.
Under the law, positions deemed technical are exempted from the CPCS, and therefore, they can earn competitive paychecks similar to those in the private sector and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. This is to attract and retain top talents, which the MIC needs to make wise investment decisions.
But even though Malacañang has not yet cleared the structure and compensation for technical roles, Corpus explained that the MIC could already start investing as it only required the approval from Consing and the board.
The MIC board includes Consing, MIC chair and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Land Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Lynette Ortiz and Development Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Michael de Jesus.
MIC directors Vicky Castillo Tan, Andrew Jerome Gan, German Lichauco, and Roman Felipe Reyes are also members of the MIC board.
“The Maharlika board will determine which positions are highly technical and even their compensation. They will be exempted from the compensation and position classification system which we enforce,” the GCG chief said.
“But the president has instructed us to coordinate with Maharlika to come up with the guidelines. That’s what we’re doing,” he added.
