Joey Salceda denies getting job as secretary of finance

Albay Representative Joey Salceda of Albay has denied a report that he was to be appointed secretary of finance to replace the incumbent Benjamin Diokno.

"Oh no. Hindi po,” the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said when asked about a report that he had been named to lead the Department of Finance.

“I have nothing to do or start this DOF news flow. It is not my style,” he added.

Salceda said that he was content with shepherding fiscal strategies of the administrations he had worked with since 2006.

“Do not covet thy neighbor’s job. In past administrations, as in the present, I was able to move fiscal policy from my seat in Congress," Salceda said in a statement.

"From the fiscal reforms of 2003-2006 to the economic reforms during the 2008 global financial crisis to the Duterte-era CTRP (Comprehensive Tax Reform Program), up to the present, I have worked with the Secretary of Finance, not as the Secretary of Finance,” he added.

Salceda vowed to continue working with Diokno, saying President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. knew best.

“Secretary Ben is a good friend and as long as he’s Secretary of Finance, I will work closely with him,” Salceda said.

“The President ultimately makes the decisions on appointments. The Cabinet, after all, is his official family. He has an SOF already. Until he says otherwise, any talk of any appointment is pointless speculation,” he added.

Salceda served as the economic adviser of former President now Senior House Deputy Speaker Gloria Arroyo and served as House ways and means panel chairperson during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, a post he retained under the Marcos administration.—NB/GMA Integrated News