Ralph Recto

Ralph Gonzalez Recto (Tagalog pronunciation: [gonˈsalɛs ˈrɛktɔ]; born January 11, 1964) is a Filipino politician who has served as the executive secretary on an ad interim basis since 2025 under President Bongbong Marcos. He previously served as the 33rd secretary of finance from 2024 to 2025 under President Marcos, the representative for Batangas' 6th district from 1992 to 2001 and from 2022 to 2024, and as the House deputy speaker from 2022 to 2024. Recto also previously served three terms in the Senate: from 2001 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2022, and he had served as president pro tempore of the Senate and Senate minority leader.^[1][2]

Early life

Ralph Recto comes from a political family. He was born to parents Rafael Recto (1931–2008), a sportsman and politician who participated in the 1986 coup attempt at the Manila Hotel, and Carmen Gonzalez-Recto (1941–2013).^[1]

Education

Recto acquired a Bachelor of Science in commerce at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, in 1989. At that time, Benilde was still a constituent college of De La Salle University. In 1990, he entered the College of Public Administration of the University of the Philippines Diliman to study Master of Public Administration, but only earned 36 academic units, hence unable to finish the graduate degree.^[1]

First three terms (1992–2001)

Recto was the youngest-elected member of the House of Representatives during the 9th Congress. He is also the youngest elective official of his term. He also holds an unprecedented record in the congressional election history of Batangas for winning in all precincts, barangays, and municipalities, together with Lipa City, in the 1995 and 1998 elections.^[1]

Return (2022–2024)

Upon being term-limited in the Senate, in 2022, Recto ran for a comeback to the House of Representatives, this time at the 6th district of Batangas, which consists of only the city of Lipa. He then won the election unopposed, succeeding his wife Vilma Santos.^[1]

First term (2001–2007)

Recto was elected to the Senate in 2001, becoming the youngest Senator of the 12th Congress at the age of 37. In the Senate, he chaired the Committees on Ways and Means and on Trade and Industry.^[1]

Second term (2010–2016)

He was proclaimed as one of the winning senatorial candidates of the 2010 Senate elections.^[1]

Third term (2016–2022)

Recto ran for re-election in the 2016 Senate election under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid of^[1]

National Economic and Development Authority (2008–2009)

After his failed bid for re-election to the Senate in 2007, Recto joined the board of the Union Bank of the Philippines.^[1]

Finance secretary (2024–2025)

On January 11, 2024, within his 60th birthday, Recto was appointed by President Bongbong Marcos as the secretary of finance. He took his oath of office on January 12, 2024, succeeding Benjamin Diokno, while eventually vacating the posts of the House Deputy Speaker and the House Representative of the 6th district of Batangas, simultaneously. The Commission on Appointments confirmed Recto's appointment as finance secretary on March 13, 2024.^[1]