Diokno out; Recto named DOF chief

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto is taking over the post of Benjamin Diokno as finance secretary and head of the administration’s economic team.

Sources confirmed that Recto is set to take his oath before President Marcos today as the new head of the Department of Finance (DOF).

Diokno, in turn, will take his oath before Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona as the last member of the seven-man Monetary Board.

Sought for confirmation, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said an announcement would be made “in due time.”

Ahead of a formal announcement from Malacañang, veteran actress and former Batangas lawmaker Vilma Santos-Recto confirmed the appointment of her husband as head of the economic team.

The appointment came on Recto’s 60th birthday yesterday following rumors over the appointment of a new Cabinet official.

With Recto’s assumption of the top DOF post, the moniker BEAM Team (Ben-Eli-Arsi-Mina) will be replaced with REAM Team (Ralph-Eli-Arsi-Mina), referring to the other members of the economic team: BSP’s Remolona, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.

Recto’s House colleague Rep. Joey Salceda, meanwhile, welcomed the “likely appointment” of the Batangas first district representative.

“I welcome the likely appointment of fellow tax reformer Rep. Ralph Recto as Finance Secretary,” Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee, said in a statement.

“He brings in a wealth of experience in economic legislation and deep and longstanding relationships with members of Congress. This experience and network will be crucial in enacting meaningful reforms to address cost of living, create employment, and expand our fiscal space,” he said.

Recto chaired the Senate committee on ways and means and was one of the authors of the 1997 Comprehensive Tax Reform Program during his tenure in the House.

“I am optimistic that key tax reforms pending in the Senate will also move faster with his appointment, due to his relationships in that chamber, as well as his ability to broker viable compromises,” Salceda said.

While officials of the economic team and