MEDIUM RARE

Have you ever seen a cache of money laid out before you in the hundreds of millions and billions and billions? Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman opened her eyes wide and affirmed, “Yes, yes, when I was with the central bank!” At home, where she lives with her parents as an only child, there’s no need for her to budget household expenses, though she’s expected to contribute her share, and does. That her parents are from a royal dynasty with roots in Lanao del Sur may be why she remains single and unattached. “Not spoiled, no,” but maybe the guys find her too cool to handle. She has degrees in economics from FEU and UP and was working toward a master’s in public administration from London School of Economics when she was tapped by President Marcos for DBM, where she is the only female in his economic team and one of three women in the cabinet. Over lunch with just us girls at XO, Conrad Hotel, the chef prepared halal food for her, which didn’t look much different from the spread we dug into. Shrimps, gising-gising (bits of chopped kangkong stems), steamed fish, and halo-halo. Budget Secretary Mina, partly because of her youth (47) and gender (feminine, smart), is easy to relate to. She speaks simply even if some of her titles and duties are a mouthful. She has worked with the most familiar names known for their money sense – Edgardo J. Angara (who gave her her first experience of a boss with no regard for clock or calendar), Benjamin Diokno, Arsenio Balisacan – and holds concurrent positions as head of a slew of committees described by their acronyms, many of them unheard of by those of us who can’t balance their checkbook. The hardest part of her job is people who think public money flows out of nowhere and everywhere. As for the ongoing chatter about constitutional amendments – and aware of the tremendous costs of organizing such an endeavor – she’d rather leave the final word to Congress. Closer to her heart, one would guess, is advocating policies and programs “that promote local empowerment and development,” such as her role as chairman of the national government-Bangsamoro Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) and Committee on Devolution. How does she budget her time?