CA confirms DBM’s Avisado

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Appointments (CA) has confirmed the ad interim appointment of Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, who assumed the post in acting capacity in August last year.

Avisado was confirmed during the body’s plenary session presided over by CA chairman and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, with Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri sponsoring the budget chief’s confirmation. 

During his confirmation hearings, the budget chief vowed not to condone corruption in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“I’ll take full responsibility for anything that happens in the DBM. If there’s corruption, I assure you, I’ll be the first to go,” Avisado told the CA members.

He also vowed to improve the spending capacity of government agencies.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson cited Avisado for putting on hold the release of P80 billion for various projects, which the former claimed were inserted at the last minute by members of the House of Representatives in this year’s P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act.

Zubiri proudly called the Surigao-born Avisado “a product of Mindanao.”

He thanked Avisado for providing assistance to the Ministry of Finance and Budget and Management of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) during the crafting of the first-ever Bangsamoro Expenditure Program.

“I am pleased to know that our brothers and sisters in the Bangsamoro are getting the assistance and support they need from no less than the national government’s top expert on budgetary matters and fiscal management,” Zubiri said.

Sen. Francis Tolentino described Avisado as the “right man for the job.”

“Should we decide to appoint this man today, I believe that the department can soar even higher and come even closer to fulfilling its mission of leading public expenditure management to ensure the equitable, prudent, transparent and accountable allocation and use of public funds to improve the quality of life of each and every Filipino,” Tolentino said.

“Despite such circumstance, he graduated cum laude with his degree of Bachelor of Laws in Ateneo de Davao University in 1978,” said Tolentino, adding that Avisado is living proof that great things come from hard work and perseverance.

Avisado entered government service in 1986 and went on to occupy various leadership positions in the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Davao City. He was appointed deputy secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Council in 2010. In 2016, he became President Duterte’s presidential assistant for special concerns.