Marcos names Benjamin Diokno as DOF chief, Felipe Medalla as BSP gov

President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. announced Thursday that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno would be the chief of the Department of Finance under his administration.

At a press conference held a day after his proclamation, Marcos also disclosed that Felipe Medalla would succeed Diokno in the BSP.

Diokno took over as the BSP governor in March 2019, taking over the post left behind by the late Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., who succumbed to cancer.

With his appointment as DOF secretary, Diokno will cut short his term as BSP governor, which was set to end in July 2023.

“It is an honor to serve the Filipino people in my current and any future capacity. I am grateful and humbled by the President-elect to help his administration manage the country’s fiscal affairs,” Diokno said in a statement.

“As Finance Secretary, I will strive to continue prudently and carefully balancing the need to support economic growth, on one hand, and to maintain fiscal discipline, on the other.”

Under its mandate, the BSP primarily maintains price stability, along with regulating the Philippine financial sector.

Prior to his appointment to the BSP under the Duterte administration, Diokno served his second term as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

He first served as DBM secretary under the Estrada administration and also Budget undersecretary from 1986 to 1991 under then-President Corazon Aquino.

Meanwhile, Medalla has been a member of the Monetary Board since July 2011. He was first appointed by the late President Benigno Aquino III and was given a second term by Duterte in July 2017.

Medalla also served as secretary of Socio-Economic Planning and director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority from 1998 to 2001 during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.

GMA News Online has reached out to Medalla for comment on his appointment but he has yet to respond as of posting time. —with Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/KBK, GMA News