Majority of Filipinos support the administration’s proposed Maharlika Investment Fund, the non-commissioned Pahayag Quarter 1 survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. showed.
Based on the survey, 62 percent of the respondents were aware of the proposed MIF, and believe the fund is vital to improve particularly the agriculture and health sectors.
NCR has the highest level of awareness at 72 percent. The MIF is popular with Filipinos ages between 50 to 59 years old, registering at a high 69 percent and those 60 years old and above at 72 percent awareness.
The survey result showed “improving agricultural production and supply chains (32 percent) was regarded as the highest priority project that should be funded by MIF while funding universal healthcare for all Filipinos came in second at 23 percent and investment in lifelong learning for all registered third at 11 percent.”
Among the least priority projects are the establishment of logistic hubs across the country at one percent, establishing internet connectivity from Luzon to Mindanao at three percent, and the National Railway System expansion outside of Metro Manila at three percent.
Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said the MIF has adequate safeguards to make sure that “funds are invested properly.”
Romualdez said the MIF has proactive safety checks, including transparency provisions and the requirement to subject the books of accounts of the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which will manage the fund, to three layers of audit by an internal auditor, an external auditor and the Commission on Audit.
The audits shall include an assessment of whether investments are made in compliance with the Santiago principles, a set of guidelines designed to promote good governance, accountability, transparency, prudent investment practices and a stable and open investment climate.
Meanwhile, the governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is favored to lead the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) at 26 percent, followed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at 24 percent.
Pahayag is an independent and non-commissioned survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. between March 2 to 6, 2023. It is a nationwide purposive sampling survey of 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with multinational presence.
The sample was restricted to registered Filipino voters. Samples provided by PureSpectrum are not affiliated with any bias or political party.
