President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Kim Robert De Leon as the new head of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). De Leon, 35, is the youngest member of the Marcos Cabinet. He will be sworn in on Tuesday, May 19.
De Leon fills a leadership void five months in the making. The DBM had been without a permanent chief since Amenah Pangandaman vacated the role over a corruption controversy involving flood control funds. Since December, Rolando Toledo has been functioning as secretary. Toledo will serve as a board member of the Government Service Insurance System.
Prior to this assignment, De Leon was a professor at the University of the Philippines (UP). He was a professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance in UP Diliman.
This ain’t his first rodeo at the DBM. Before that, he worked as undersecretary from 2021 to 2022. He took care of the office systems and technologies. Earlier in his career, he had served as assistant secretary and as director at the same department.
De Leon was employed in the Department of Transportation from 2022 to 2024. He took care of administration and finance under Secretary Jaime Bautista. He also worked at the Office of the President before transferring to UP.
De Leon has a reputation for budgeting, government reform and computer systems expertise. Claire Castro, a Palace spokesperson, lauded him as a committed public servant.
He’s a UP grad with high honours – magna cum laude and valedictorian. He also passed the Environmental Planning Licensure Exam in 2016. He has two master’s degrees, one in urban planning and one in public safety.
Experts are optimistic that his experience and youth will bring new vigour to the organization.
