BSP to get 5th deputy governor (Sabong News)
Author
Lee C. Chipongian
Date
MAY 13 2022
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to fill up the fifth – and last – slot for the position of deputy governor to take charge of BSP’s expanding presence across the country.
Monetary Board member, Bruce J. Tolentino, said on Friday, May 13, that the new yet-to-be-named deputy governor “will take on key tasks” not covered by the other four existing deputy governors, such as overseeing the central bank’s 13 infrastructure projects, its own “Build, Build, Build” undertaking. Three of the 13 projects worth P504.32 million will be completed this year.
“The new DG (deputy governor) will take on key tasks like the many regional offices and key infrastructure-related projects,” said Tolentino in a text message. Appointing another deputy governor will also reduce the “too many functions” that are currently reporting directly to the Office of the Governor, he added.
The revised BSP Charter or Republic Act No. 11211 (“The New Central Bank Act”) which amended RA 7653, was signed into a new law in 2019. A month later, following the passing of the late Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., Macalanang appointed Benjamin E. Diokno, the budget secretary at the time, as the BSP’s fifth governor.
Under Espenilla and now Diokno, the BSP has undergone a reorganization and expansion. Previously, the BSP only has three deputy governors. Under the new BSP law, it is allowed to have up to five deputy governors.
In February 2021, the BSP appointed its fourth deputy governor, Mamerto E. Tangonan, to take charge of the payments and currency management sector.
Three of BSP’s four deputy governors are homegrown — Francisco G. Dakila Jr. for the monetary and economics sector and Chuchi G. Fonacier for the financial supervision sector. The third and latest appointment is another BSP insider, Eduardo G. Bobier for the corporate services sector after the previous head, Ma. Almasara Cyd N. Tuano-Amador, retired.
Only Tangonan was not directly connected with the BSP when he was appointed in 2021 but he is no stranger to the central bank since he has been working with the independent institution in the area of digital, technology and financial inclusion services as a former USAID official.
