Recto in, Diokno out as Finance chief

(UPDATE) Malacañang on Thursday confirmed that Rep. Ralph Recto will take his oath as secretary of the Department of Finance on Friday, January 12, 2024.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will also swear into office Frederick Go, his Special Assistant for Investment and Economic Affairs, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a text message to reporters.

Recto will replace Benjamin Diokno, who assumed the top Finance post in 2022.

Recto's wife, former Batangas governor Vilma Santos-Recto, was the first to break the news in public.

Santos-Recto made the revelation in an online interview with showbiz columnist Jun Lalin.

«Manunumpa na siya tomorrow, January 12, bilang bagong (He will be sworn on January 12 as the new) Secretary of Finance under the administration of [President Marcos]. Kasi binigyan siya ng tiwala (He was given the trust) because he is such a good economist,» she said.

There had been rumors that Recto was moving up as Finance secretary since last year, after he accompanied the President to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last November.

Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente «Joey» Salceda welcomed the appointment of Recto as Finance chief, noting that he will bring in a «wealth of experience in economic legislation and deep and longstanding relationships with members of Congress,» «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, chairman of the House Tax Committee, added.

Recto, the grandson of statesman Claro Mayo Recto, was elected as representative of Batangas' sixth district in 2019 after his 12-year stint at the Senate, during which he served as Senate President Pro Tempore or as Senate Minority Leader.

He was a senator from 2001 to 2007 before being appointed as Socioeconomic Planning Secretary from 2008-2009.

He first became a representative of the fourth district of Batangas from 1992 to 2001.

Among the laws he authored and sponsored include the Rice Tariffication Act, the Universal Health Care Act, and the Tax Reform Act of 1997.

Diokno was