MALACAÑANG on Thursday refuted claims circulating online that the Philippine stock market lost P1.7 trillion in value due to alleged corruption scandals, calling the reports “fake news.”
Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Frederick Go said the information was based on a fabricated social media post falsely attributed to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Francis Lim, who was reportedly misquoted as saying that massive corruption had triggered a major investor pullout.
“Unfortunately, the SEC chairman was quoting off a confirmed fake news, a socmed post designed to catch attention and falsely sensationalize,” Go clarified in a press briefing. “The attributed source confirmed that this is fake news and not from them. The fact is, the drop wasn’t 12 percent.”
Go explained that verified data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed that the main index declined only 1.6 percent (1.58% to be exact) between August 11 and 29, while the All Shares Index of 282 listed companies dropped merely 1.5 percent. In terms of total market capitalization, the decline was only 1.4 percent, he added.
The Palace official emphasized that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains committed to addressing corruption in infrastructure and flood control projects, asserting that such reforms strengthen investor confidence rather than drive them away.
“I think the business community is very appreciative of this. It’s not lost upon them that the President himself initiated this and is very serious about fixing this long-standing problem,” Go said.