INDONESIAN businessman Dato’ Sri Tahir has donated more than P41 million to the Philippine government to support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s social programs, Malacañang said Thursday.

The commitment was made during Tahir’s meeting with the President in Malacañang on Wednesday, where the businessman also promised to support the other projects of the Marcos administration.

During the meeting, Tahir “handed over” SG$1 million or P41.6 million, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement.

Garafil said Tahir met the Marcoses in Hawaii when they were in exile in 1986.

She added that Tahir was very excited to see Marcos when he won the presidential elections last year.

“So maybe I use this opportunity. I like to see, explore, we can work together in social work,”Tahir told Marcos during the meeting.

Marcos discussed with Tahir the social welfare programs of the government for children, the elderly, as well as his administration’s housing projects.

“That is a very important part of our agenda. It causes so many social problems if we don’t have available housing. It’s very hard for people to be productive if they do not have their own home,” Marcos said.

Tahir also expressed interest in building a hospital in the Philippines.

“We are running the largest private hospital in Indonesia. So maybe if we can invest also in hospital here,” he said.

Tahir is a property and banking magnate in Indonesia who founded the Mayapada Group. He has businesses in the financial, health care, hotels, media and mining sectors.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo appointed Tahir to his Presidential Advisory Council in 2019.