As-delivered
Opening Statement of Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua
Commission on Appointments (CA) Hearing
2 June 2021|1:00 PM

Good afternoon, Honorable Senate President Sotto, Honorable Congressman Zamora, Chairperson Honorable Congressman Cagas, Presiding Chair Honorable Senator Recto, and all honorable members of the Commission on Appointments.

I am honored this day to appear before the distinguished members of the Commission on Appointments for the opportunity to humbly subject myself to the process of confirmation as of my ad-interim appointment as NEDA Secretary.

My appointment as Acting Secretary and then as ad-interim Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning comes at a very difficult time in our history. I am very much aware of the scale of this unprecedented challenge.

I believe there are others with more years of experience and wisdom to help steer our country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, I assure you that, as I have done in the past and throughout my tenure as Acting Secretary, I will offer my best effort and to contribute effective solutions to the challenges that we are all facing as a nation and to consult frequently with various stakeholders.

I have been a development economist by profession for the past 18 years and I have accepted this invitation to serve my country in government, first as Undersecretary in the Department of Finance, where I led the technical team on the tax reform and other reforms in the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the Duterte administration, and now as the NEDA ad-interim Secretary.

My priority is to help the country recover from this pandemic through our recovery programs, the infrastructure program, and the National ID.

In this last year, I also aim to improve the NEDA organization, so that we can give the next administration a better foundation for sound socioeconomic planning with stronger focus on responsive infrastructure, innovation, regional equity, and sustainable development.

I offer my experience and track record, my passion for development, and my personal dream of seeing my five-year old son and his generation have a better future as motivation for working hard in this job at this crucial time.

Thank you very much.

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