Marcos appoints new senior Finance officials

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed new Department of Finance (DoF) officials following a top-level revamp earlier this year.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, who took over in January from Benjamin Diokno, thanked the President «for appointing a new group of distinguished professionals in the DoF with whom I have worked in the past.»

«They are valuable additions to the existing team in the DoF, which is comprised of equally talented individuals and who have been important pillars for the agency,» he said in a statement on Monday.

Rolando Tungpalan was named undersecretary of the Corporate Affairs and Strategic Infrastructure implementation of the Build Better More infrastructure program.

The Finance department said that Tungpalan, who previously served as undersecretary at the National Economic and Development Authority, would focus on ensuring a prompt government response to investment issues.

Joven Balbosa, meanwhile, was appointed as undersecretary for the International Finance Group (IFG), where he will lead efforts to secure foreign development financing and develop resource mobilization policies.

He will also serve as the DoF's main representative with regard to international agreements related to trade, investment, and tax treaties.

Balbosa previously worked as an advisor at the Southeast Asian Department of the Asian Development Bank and as an economist at the World Bank.

Gerald Alan Quebral, who was executive director of a congressional oversight committee on tax reforms, will be the new assistant secretary for the Revenue Operations Group.

He will oversee the operations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, given his main responsibility of ensuring that the government achieves its annual revenue collection targets.

Bureau of the Treasury Officer in Charge Sharon Almanza, meanwhile, has been named national treasurer.

As deputy treasurer, she was previously seconded to the World Bank Group and also previously held roles in the DoF.

Rounding out the appointments, Donalyn Minimo was named director 4 of the International Finance Group and Cherry Mae Gonzales as director 4 of the Information Management Service (IMS).

They will join Alu Dorotan Tiuseco, chief of