Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Frederick Go, on Thursday, dismissed as 'fake news' reports claiming that ₱1.7 trillion in market value was wiped out from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) due to corruption in the flood control scandal.
In a Palace briefing, Go clarified that the alleged figure was based on a social media post that had already been confirmed false. He said that it has no basis, and investor confidence in the Philippine economy remains strong.
"Unfortunately po, the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman was quoting off a confirmed fake news socmed post designed to catch attention and falsely sensationalize," Go said. "The attributed source confirmed that it was fake news and not from them."
This follows a statement by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Francis Lim during the 57th Annual FINEX Conference, where he emphasized that corruption has a significant impact on investor confidence.
According to Go, the supposed 12% drop in market value did not occur.
"The fact is, the drop wasn't 12%. You may confirm this with the Philippine Stock Exchange or your favorite stockbroker. Lahat po yan alam nila. Public knowledge po lahat ng index po natin. And I have personally confirmed this with the PSE President and the top brokers in the stock market," he explained.
Go cited official data showing that between August 11 to 29, the PSE index fell by only 1.58%, while the All Shares Index, composed of 282 companies, dropped by just 1.5%. In terms of market capitalization, the figure misrepresented in the viral post, the decline was only 1.4%.
Go assured that investor confidence in the Philippine economy remains stable despite the ongoing corruption discussions.
"On investment pledges, I don’t think we’ve lost anything. The pledges continue to come in. As a matter of fact, we are now transmitting to the Office of the President the approval of the first beneficiary of the CREATE More Act, which is an investment from a Korean company of over $1 billion," he said.
When asked whether any companies had withdrawn investments due to the issue, Go firmly denied it.
"I don't think anybody has pulled out. I think sometimes when there is unpredictability in the environment, people might temporarily think about their investment projects. But we're quite confident that when this is all resolved, they will all come back. So they have not pulled out, that they will continue, rather, that they will continue with their projects," Go stated.
Go believes that the business community remains confident in the country despite issues of corruption.
"I think the business confidence is still solid. I think you can see that from multiple sources of information," he added.
Go reiterated that the government remains focused on maintaining transparency and economic stability, urging the public to be cautious about misinformation circulating online.
"Sana po huwag na po tayong magpapa-loko sa fake news," Go pointed out.
