{
  "id": 15813928,
  "title": "Philippine 'Fund Code 151': Where the Malampaya money sits, and what to do with it — a wealth fund for the Filipino people",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/philippine-fund-code-151-where-the-malampaya-money-sits-and-what-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-20T22:10:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/opinion/philippine-fund-code-151-where-the-malampaya-money-sits-and-what-to-do-with-it-a-wealth-fund-for-the-filipino-people-1.500716947"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Malampaya Fund, established under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 910, aimed to finance energy exploration and development projects in the Philippines. However, the Supreme Court's Belgica ruling in 2013 invalidated its use for purposes beyond energy development. In 2017, the Commission on Audit (COA) audit covered ₱38.8 billion in 184 Special Allocation Release Orders (SAROs) released from 2004 to 2012. The fund, which currently holds ₱200 billion ($3 billion) in royalties collected from 2014 to 2024, has been idle since 2011, according to a report by the Philippine Star. The royalties are stored in a Special Account in the General Fund, called Fund Code 151, as per the Bureau of the Treasury. Congress has an opportunity to amend the law governing the Malampaya Fund and create a Philippine Wealth Fund with a separate board, strict investment rules, public reporting, and a mandate to finance long-term national priorities. This could include directing a share of royalties from mining, petroleum, and natural gas industries into the fund, ensuring transparent benefit-sharing arrangements for local government units and affected communities, and requiring environmental safeguards and free, prior, and informed consent for Indigenous peoples.",
  "summary": "The Malampaya controversy should not end with an audit report. It should force Congress to answer a larger question: why should billions in national resource wealth remain idle — or be spent at presidential discretion — while millions of Filipinos remain poor? The Malampaya Fund was created under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 910 to finance the exploration, development and exploitation of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}