Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has completed his team at the Department of Finance (DOF) with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s newly appointed Chief Economist and two Undersecretaries tasked to lead fiscal policy formulation and revenue operations.

“I thank the President for appointing such highly competent officials. They are all valuable additions to my team at the DOF. I am confident that they will lead their respective offices with great skill, dedication, and integrity,” he said.

Atty. Charlito Martin R. Mendoza takes on the role of Undersecretary for the Revenue Operations Group (ROG).

Mendoza will oversee the operations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which do the heavy lifting to ensure that the government meets its annual revenue collection targets.

Before he was appointed as Undersecretary, Mendoza served as District Collector for the BOC Port of Cebu from July 2019 to October 2022.

During his tenure in Cebu, Mendoza led the Port to achieve record-breaking revenue collection and significant border protection milestones.

Under his leadership, the Port of Cebu also became the first customs collection district to have its main port and all subports ISO 9001:2015 certified.

Before government service, Mendoza had a thriving law practice. He is a founding partner of the Palafox Patriarca Romero and Mendoza Law Firm and was an associate lawyer at the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala and Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW) and the Suarez and Narvasa Law Firm.

He was also a law professor and a Pre-Bar and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education lecturer.

Mendoza placed third in the 2004 Philippine Bar Exam after he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from San Beda University.

He is also a licensed Geodetic Engineer, having earned a degree in Geodetic Engineering from the University of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Domini S. Velasquez was appointed as Undersecretary heading the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE), which is a specialized unit dedicated to analyzing data on emerging economic developments, providing early warnings, and recommending response measures aimed at anticipating and addressing key economic issues.

The new Chief Economist has over 15 years of experience in macroeconomic research and policy analysis.

Velasquez spent most of her career in the government, particularly with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), where she provided economic analysis and advice for the country’s development plan.

She also held key positions at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Investor Relations Office (BSP-IRO), Citibank’s public sector risk unit, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department.

Prior to joining the DOF, she was the Chief Economist for China Banking Corporation (CBC).

Velasquez graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. She also holds a master’s degree in Public Policy, specializing in Economic Policy from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a master’s degree in International Migration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Finally, leading the Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group (FPMG) as Undersecretary is University of the Philippines School of Economics associate professor Renato E. Reside, Jr.

Reside will spearhead the formulation and advancement of tax reform proposals and other crucial fiscal policy recommendations.

He will likewise lead in overseeing the forecasting and programming of national government revenues, managing cash programming, and vigilant monitoring of the government’s finances.

Reside has extensive mastery in the fields of macroeconomics, taxation and public finance, pension system development, banking and financial markets, investments, and infrastructure development.

He has served the DOF intermittently since the early 2000s as a consultant for various tax issues.

He recently worked as a consultant for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the ADB, and has led previous studies and discussions on tax reforms, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and pension systems in the Philippines.

Reside completed his degree in Management Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and holds a Doctor of Philosophy Major in Economics degree from Fordham University in New York, USA.

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