Recto tapped new DoF chief

Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto has been named the new secretary of Finance, his wife, ex-lawmaker Vilma Santos-Recto, revealed on Thursday.

Recto will take his oath of office today after lunch in Malacañang, she added.

“He was given the trust because he is such a good economist,” the actress-politician said.

The Palace had yet to confirm at press time Recto’s appointment in place of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who denied reports late last year that he was on the way out of the Marcos administration.

Diokno said at the time that he was being eyed to head the Maharlika Investment Corporation.

Recto’s presence during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official visit to the United States in November fueled speculation that he was being tapped to join the administration.

Recto first served as a representative of the 4th District of Batangas in 1999. He then ran for the Senate and won in 2001 and 2010 and was re-elected in 2016. In 2022, he ran for Congress again and won.

Recto served in the Arroyo Cabinet in 2008 as director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority.

A fellow tax reformer, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, welcomed the appointment of Recto, whom he said had brought a wealth of experience in economic legislation to Congress.

“This experience and network will be crucial in enacting meaningful reforms to address [the] cost of living, create employment, and expand our fiscal space,” he said.

Recto chaired the Committee on Ways and Means in the Senate and was one of the authors of the 1997 Comprehensive Tax Reform Program during his tenure in the House, according to Salceda.

Salceda said he is looking forward to crucial tax reforms pending in the Senate to roll faster with Recto’s appointment, considering his longstanding relationship with the chamber, “as well as his ability to broker viable compromises.”

Senators on Thursday welcomed the appointment of Recto, with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri vouching for his competence when he was NEDA head during the Arroyo administration.

“I wholeheartedly welcome the appointment of our dear friend, Senator Ralph Recto, as our new Finance secretary,” Zubiri said. “In the Senate, we always regarded him as the resident numbers genius.”

“This was not just for his mathematical ability, but more importantly for his ability to immediately see the big picture, the implications of these numbers,” he added.

Zubiri said that Recto understands how to bridge the gap between the abstractions of mathematics and the very “concrete realities that we face as a nation.”

“So, I have no doubt that he will be a good Finance secretary who will continue to push the country along on the road to greater economic prosperity,” he added.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero described Recto as a capable addition to the Cabinet of President Marcos.

“He is a good friend and, as a legislator for several decades both in the House and the Senate and as former NEDA chief, Secretary Recto is an able and capable addition to PBBM’s Cabinet in ensuring that we continue to sustain the economic gains we have thus far achieved,” Escudero said in a separate statement.

He said that Recto can count on his support when he faces his former colleagues in the Commission on Appointments.

“I wish him well and would like to express my support not only in the CA but in his endeavors as the new SoF,” he said.

DAILY TRIBUNE tried to get a comment from Diokno over the development at press time to no avail.