A former official under the late President Benigno Aquino has been chosen as the next chief of the National Econonomic Development Authority (NEDA) under the administration of Bongbong Marcos.
“Upon the invitation of presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., I have decided to help meet the challenges of the economy as Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in this important period of our economic history,” Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement.
Balisacan is currently the chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
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“I will join the new Cabinet, mindful of the immense work needed to accelerate economic recovery and post-recovery development,” he said.
“In returning to a post I have previously held, we rely on experience and judicious reckoning of socioeconomic issues to build stronger foundations for a more robust, more inclusive, and more resilient Philippine economy,” Balisacan added.
Balisacan was also the former NEDA chief of Aquino.
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“I have also tapped an old friend who’s also formerly in this position, Arse Balisacan, who is our former NEDA and I’ve asked him to return to NEDA,” Marcos said in a press briefing.
“I’ve worked with him extensively at the time when I was governor. We have very similar thinking in that regard kaya’t malakas ang loob ko, I know he’s very competent, I know his policies are policies that will be for the betterment of our country,” he added.
