Manila: Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Secretary Frederick Go on Thursday dismissed as fake news reports that PHP1.7 trillion in market value was wiped out from the Philippine Stock Exchange due to corruption scandals, as claimed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Francis Lim. 'Unfortunately, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman was quoting off a confirmed fake news socmed (social media) post designed to catch attention and falsely sensationalize the attributed source,' he said in a press briefing at the Palace.

According to Philippines News Agency, Go emphasized that the information cited by Lim was false and not from any credible source. He stated, 'Confirmed na fake news po ito at hindi galing sa kanila (This has been confirmed as fake news and did not come from them).' Go's remarks came a day after Lim, in his speech at the 57th FINEX Conference, warned that corruption, particularly in the flood control project scandal now under independent probe, has eroded investor confidence.

Go clarified that the stock market drop was far smaller than what was claimed. 'The fact is, the drop wasn't 12 percent. You may confirm this with the Philippine Stock Exchange or your favorite stockbroker,' he said. Lim called corruption 'a weapon of mass wealth destruction,' saying weak integrity - not weak fundamentals - has driven investors away.

Go, however, underscored that while corruption issues are being addressed, claims of massive capital flight are 'false and misleading,' urging the public to rely only on verified data from financial institutions. The country, he said, has not lost any investments due to the corruption issue, noting that 'pledges continue to come in.'

He further mentioned, 'As a matter of fact, we are now transmitting to the Office of the President approval of the first beneficiary of the CREATE More Act, which is an investment from a Korean company of over USD1 billion.'