{"id":114564,"date":"2025-10-11T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/114564\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T01:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:22:11","slug":"vantage-point-the-ghostly-p1-7-trillion-market-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/114564\/","title":{"rendered":"[Vantage Point] The ghostly P1.7-trillion market plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philippines\u2019 alleged P1.7-trillion market meltdown<\/a> which dominated the conversation in traditional and social media should have already shook down business, and could have spiraled into unimaginable crash. It didn\u2019t because it wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in the minds of many, including equities players I held in esteem, the news somehow gained significant credibility. Surprisingly, no one cared to verify the claim, allowing the narrative to flourish with people sharing and discussing it at length as if it were gospel truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It actually started as whispers in coffee shops. My friends deep inside the military establishment early on warned me that it could be part of a destabilization plot intended to take advantage of public anger about the infamous flood control scandal. I, for one, took the assertion for granted because the amount involved was too humongous to be believable. Moreover, the narrative was that the market loss happened in just three weeks!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the claim received more plausibility when Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Francis Lim<\/a> virtually confirmed its veracity in a public forum: \u201cThe flood control project scandal<\/a> has shaken public confidence, wiping out an extraordinary P1.7 trillion in market value of our publicly listed companies in just three weeks, despite rising corporate earnings. Investors aren\u2019t fleeing because of weak fundamentals; they\u2019re fleeing because of weak integrity. It\u2019s a stark reminder that corruption is a weapon of mass wealth destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Malaca\u00f1ang pushed back, branding the claim as fake news.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a media statement, Lim clarified that his speech before the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) on October 7,\u00a0 \u201cin which I cited a report claiming that recent corruption issues had wiped out about \u20b11.7 trillion in market value of publicly listed companies\u201d was sourced from \u201cinformation, which had been circulating within business circles and cited by some media outlets, [which I believed at the time was] a credible industry report.\u201d He added that he has since discovered the report to be fictitious. \u201cI deeply regret any confusion or concern that my statement may have caused. My sole intent was to underscore the vital importance of integrity in our markets and the devastating impact corruption can have on investor confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Viber message to Vantage Point, Lim said: \u201cI really don\u2019t know where [the claim] originated. As stated in my statement, it had been going around in some business orgs and was also mentioned in some news sources. But whatever it is, I take responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers speak<\/p>\n

To get to the bottom of the issue, I did some forensic number-crunching. And this is what I found out:<\/p>\n

At least for one week in mid-September, the market cap rose ~1.91 % week over week. I gathered some weekly market cap figures:<\/p>\n