President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has filled up open slots in the Department of Finance who would support Secretary Ralph Recto in ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability and accelerating inclusive economic growth.

In a statement, the DoF said Rolando Tungpalan, a former Socioeconomic Planning official will serve as Undersecretary of the Corporate Affairs and Strategic Infrastructure Group.

He will be in charge of fast-tracking the roll-out of the administration’s Build Better More program and ensure swift government action on investments by addressing critical bottlenecks and creating a conducive environment that welcomes investors with a red carpet.

Tungpalan, a seasoned economist, previously served as Undersecretary for Investment Programming of the National Economic and Development Authority.

He chaired the Technical Boards of the Investment Coordination Committee and the Infrastructure Committee of the NEDA Board and also played a key role as the primary government representative for multilateral and bilateral programming of official development assistance.

Tungpalan is a graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman where he completed his degree in Economics.

He earned master’s units in Economic Research at the Center for Research and Communications.

Aside from Tungpalan, the President also appointed Joven Balbosa, who has served in senior roles in key multilateral agencies, to assume the position of Undersecretary for the International Finance Group.

Balbosa will lead efforts in securing foreign development financing and formulate policies related to prudent external resource mobilization.

He is the primary DoF lead in collaborating with other government agencies on international agreements covering areas such as trade, investment and tax treaties.

Meanwhile, Gerald Alan Quebral is the new Assistant Secretary for the Revenue Operations Group.

He is tasked to ensure that the government meets its revenue collection targets annually by overseeing the Bureau of Internal Revenue operations.

New treasurer

Sharon Almanza was appointed as National Treasurer after serving as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of the Treasury.

Almanza earlier served as Deputy Treasurer of the BTr and was seconded to the World Bank Group from 2021 to 2023 as the Alternate Executive Director and Senior Advisor for the Constituency of Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.