The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) welcomes the newly-appointed Acting Secretary Wendel E. Avisado. He took his oath before President Rodrigo R. Duterte last Monday, August 5.

Secretary Avisado previously served as Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns to oversee the rehabilitation of the areas affected by typhoon Yolanda. He also served as Deputy Secretary General for the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council from September 2010 to April 2015 and as City Administrator of Davao City from 2004 to 2010. He was formerly a Regional Director of the Department of Interior and Local Government in Regions XI and XII, Co-Chair of the Regional Development Council of Region XI, and was elected twice as City Councilor of the First District of Davao City.

The new Acting Secretary completed his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Davao University. He also pursued further studies in development from the Asian Institute of Management and the Development Academy of the Philippines.

Besides having a long and distinguished career in government service, Secretary Avisado is an active member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. He is the immediate past National President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and currently an ex-officio member of the National Executive Board. He was the former Chairperson of the ASEAN Scouts Association for Regional Cooperation (ASARC) and first Vice Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Regional Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).

Secretary Avisado succeeds Undersecretary Janet B. Abuel, who served as the DBM’s Officer-in-Charge (OIC) since March this year following the appointment of former Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno as Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. OIC Abuel led the Department through the preparation of the proposed 2020 national budget, which was approved by the President and the Cabinet during the 40th Cabinet Meeting held last Monday. She will return to her post as DBM Undersecretary.

With Acting Secretary Avisado at the helm, the DBM is set to submit the proposed 2020 budget to Congress before its Constitutional deadline, which falls on August 21, for legislative deliberations and approval.

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