Maharlika Corp. taps 2 banking, finance veterans as directors

The Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), the state-owned firm managing the country’s first and only sovereign wealth fund, on Wednesday announced the appointment of two banking and finance veterans to its Board of Directors.

In a news release, MIC said Rolando Peñaflor and Enrico Cruz were named regular and independent directors, respectively.

The sovereign wealth fund manager said Peñaflor will serve a three-year term as regular director, bringing extensive experience in corporate banking, remedial management, real estate, and film production.

Peñaflor spent 38 years at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), where he served as senior vice president for corporate banking. He also previously led Jardiniano Development Corporation, Aspirea Development Corporation, and Oro de Siete Productions.

Cruz, meanwhile, joins as an independent director and contributes four decades of experience, having served on the boards of five publicly listed and five private companies across the finance, retail, real estate, and healthcare sectors.

MIC added that Atty. Roderick Sacro, executive vice president of the Land Bank of the Philippines, is also assuming his role as LandBank’s alternate representative to the sovereign wealth fund’s board.

Sacro joins the roster of MIC board alternate representatives that includes Undersecretary Ma. Angela Ignacio of the Department of Finance and executive vice president Carel Halog of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

MIC President and CEO Rafael Consing Jr. said the appointments reinforce the institution’s push to strengthen governance and investment discipline.

“Their depth of experience and independent perspective will be invaluable as we continue to build a disciplined, transparent, and globally credible sovereign investment institution,” Consing said.

He added that the new directors come in as MIC transitions into “a period of decisive capital deployment” across priority sectors of the Philippine economy.

The current MIC board includes Stephen CuUnjieng, an investment banker and former chairman and CEO of Evercore Asia, who joined the sovereign wealth fund manager in July 2025 as an independent director and now serves as chair of the company’s Investment Committee.

Another independent director is Roman Felipe Reyes, founding partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co., with more than 40 years of experience in corporate governance and auditing, including senior roles at SGV & Co. and Ernst & Young. Reyes chairs the Audit Committee.

The MIC Board of Directors is chaired by Finance Secretary Frederick Go, who brings over three decades of experience in business leadership, real estate development, and economic policy.—MCG, GMA Integrated News