Maharlika sticks to investment strategy amid US-Iran conflict

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

March 16, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) is keeping its investment strategy intact while eyeing the local mining sector as a potential hard-currency buffer to shield the broader economy from global shocks, amid the ongoing Middle East war.

MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing said the fund is not shifting its strategy and is executing it exactly as intended to serve as a “durable economic shield” amid the US-Iran crisis, which risks inflationary pressures that could drag local growth.

“Our criteria are consistent: we look for partners — whether from the Middle East, Asia or the West — who bring not only capital but also technical expertise and a shared commitment to the Philippines’ long-term growth,” he told The STAR in a Viber message.

“If an investment is fundamentally sound and aligns with our mandate to build national resilience, we will pursue it,” Consing added.

Among MIC’s top investments are the memorandum of understanding it signed with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund-backed ACWA Power to develop renewable energy projects for off-grid locations in the Philippines.

Maharlika is also poised to own 11.2 percent of port operator Asian Terminals Inc., which is partly owned by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World with a total investment of up to P8 billion.

“Our governance framework is designed to ensure that the integrity of the Fund remains independent of external geopolitical shifts,” he said.

He also noted that MIC will continue to prioritize foundational investments in energy security and logistics supply chains to help stabilize domestic consumer prices.

”We recognized early on the need to protect the country against the exact secondary and tertiary effects — such as imported inflation and potential stagflation — that this war is now accelerating,” Consing added.

Department of Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier said the escalating tensions in the Middle East could slash gross domestic product by 0.3 percentage points this year and accelerate inflation to 6.3 to 7.5 percent this month, all under severe scenarios.

“Simultaneously, we believe the Philippine mining sector could serve as a primary sovereign hedge. These hard assets inherently hold their value under global stress and generate the foreign exchange vital to defending the Philippine peso and offsetting potential remittance risk,” Consing said.

He added that critical minerals and hard assets may act as a safeguard for the country’s wealth, especially during periods of high inflation and global tensions.

Maharlika last year extended a $76.4-million mine feasibility loan to Makilala Mining Co., Inc., a subsidiary of Australia-based Celsius Resources Ltd. but the move met pushback due to potential environmental damage.

”By developing these resources under strict ESG (environmental, social and governance) and transparency standards, the Philippines can generate the hard-currency buffer needed to protect the peso and the broader economy during global downturns,” he added.

In 2024, MIC reported a net income of P2.68 billion, just a year after its creation in 2023.