On Benjamin Diokno as new Central Bank governor

MALACANANG, Manila, March 5, 2019: The Palace wishes to inform the appointment of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno as the new Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), succeeding the late Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte made this announcement at the start of the 35th Cabinet Meeting on Monday, March 4.

We thank Secretary Diokno for his services to the nation and to this Administration as Secretary of Budget and Management, a position he similarly held under the Estrada Presidency.

During the first Aquino Administration, Sec. Diokno became the Undersecretary for Budget Operations where he provided technical assistance to several major reforms such as the design of the 1986 Tax Reform Program. 

Equipped with a PhD in Economics from Syracuse University, USA, with UP discipline to boot, Sec. Diokno, during the Estrada Administration, instituted several reforms, including the adoption of information and communications technology in the government procurement system. 

During the Duterte Administration, Sec. Diokno was instrumental in presenting a budget which laid down the foundation for a "Matatag, Maginhawa at Panatag na Buhay" through investments in growth-enhancing infrastructure programs and innovations, inequality -reducing social services and peace-enabling initiatives. A job well done indeed, and expertly at that.

In his new tour of duty in the BSP, we expect incoming Governor Diokno to spearhead reform initiatives that will align the financial institution’s operations with international best practices and improve its corporate viability, among others, in line with Republic Act No. 11211, which was signed into law by President Duterte just last February 14.

We wish Sec. Diokno all the best in his endeavors as the new chief of the country’s central monetary authority.

With him at the helm of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, our banking institutions are in good and competent hands.

(Salvador S. Panelo Chief Presidential Legal Counsel & Presidential Spokesperson)