Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has sworn in Ralph Recto, who previously served as the nation’s finance secretary, as executive secretary to oversee the day-to-day operations of the office of the president and tapped Frederick Go to serve as acting finance secretary, marking significant changes in the country’s economic team at a time when the administration is seeking to reinforce investor confidence and maintain policy continuity.

The appointments of Recto and Go, the Marcos administration says, underscore the president’s focus on strengthening governance frameworks and ensuring stability within the economic cluster as corruption investigations continue.

Go, who served as special assistant to the president for investment and economic affairs before this appointment, is a former business reporter and the nephew of the late tycoon John Gokongwei Jr. In his capacity as special assistant, the administration notes, Go has been able to advance investment pipelines and align major economic initiatives across agencies, while also bolstering investor confidence amid global economic headwinds.

The new finance secretary, who is also the cousin of JG Summit head Lance Gokongwei, brings deep business and investment experience to the Philippines’ economic leadership. Prior to his appointment to government, he served numerous roles in the Gokongwei conglomerate, including as president and CEO of Robinsons Land Corporation, the real estate arm of the group. Under his stewardship, Robinsons Land expanded its mall and property holdings, contributing to the group’s diversified portfolio.

Meanwhile, Recto, a seasoned legislator prior to his appointment as finance secretary, brings decades of experience in fiscal and legislative reforms.

In his new role as executive secretary, Recto is expected to oversee operations within the office of the president, while strengthening inter-agency cooperation and continuing to push forward the administration’s development priorities.

The leadership reshuffle follows the resignations earlier this week of executive secretary Lucas Bersamin and budget secretary Amenah Pangandaman. The Marcos administration announced that the two officials stepped down on Monday as a matter of “delicadeza”, or propriety, amid ongoing government investigations into alleged irregularities in public works spending.

The administration has emphasized that the resignations were voluntary and intended to give the administration full latitude to address the issues and preserve institutional integrity.

However, speaking to local reporters on Wednesday, Bersamin states: “I didn’t file any resignation. I just read that I supposedly resigned out of delicadeza. It sounds nice, but it’s not true. I didn’t resign.”