To lead the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has nominated economist Arsenio Balicasan to return to his previous post.
Read more here: https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/23/marcos-camps-confirms-takers-for-neda-dole-dmw-posts-as-cabinet-takes-shape/
Balicasan was appointed NEDA Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and served from 2012 to 2016 under the administration of the late Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Aquino dynasty, which is often associated as the opposition to the Marcos dynasty.
Marcos Jr. himself regards Balicasan as an old friend and of similar thinking, hence the appointment.
“I’ve asked him to return to NEDA...We have very similar thinking in that regard. Kaya’t malakas ang loob ko (That’s why my belief is strong). I know he is very competent,” said the Marcos heir on Monday, May 23.
Aside from his stint in NEDA, Balicasan has been the chairperson of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) since 2016; the PCC is a quasi-judicial body which promotes market competition and regulates anti-competition behavior to promote a fair and efficient Philippine market and economy.
In 2010, he was appointed dean of the School of Economics of University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), and was also a full-time professor at the same school.
Balicasan, in 1979, graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the Mariano Marcos State University; in 1982, he earned a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from UP Los Banos (UPLB); and then in 1985, a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
The NEDA, which Balicasa is slated to lead, handles the country’s socioeconomic planning and development.