28 Facts About Arsenio Balisacan

Arsenio Molina Balisacan was born on November 8,1957 and is a Filipino economist and academician currently serving as the Secretary of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development.

Arsenio Balisacan then served under the Duterte administration as the Chairperson of the Philippine Competition Commission from February 1,2016, to June 30,2022.

Arsenio Balisacan was again appointed as NEDA Secretary under the Bongbong Marcos administration.

Arsenio Balisacan additionally served as the Director-Chief Executive of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, during a period of secondment from the university.

Arsenio Balisacan served as a research fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu and an economist at the World Bank in Washington, DC prior to joining the UP faculty in 1987.

Arsenio Balisacan was born in Solsona, Ilocos Norte, a remote town located at the foot of the Cordillera mountain range in Luzon.

Arsenio Balisacan recalled that it was during his high school years when their family was forced out of the property and forced to go back to their tiny village at the easternmost part of Ilocos Norte.

From his primary-school days all the way to his journey during post-graduate studies, Arsenio Balisacan had to rely on scholarships, grants, and part-time employment for financial support while his family struggled.

Arsenio Balisacan spent most of his formative years of basic education under the tutelage of the Divine Word College of Laoag and completed the last two years of secondary education in Ablan Memorial Academy of Solsona where he graduated as the valedictorian.

Arsenio Balisacan was offered a job in Cebu City by Atlas Mining, which allowed him to uproot the family and bring them to settle down in Cebu.

Arsenio Balisacan who was an Agriculture scholar at the Mariano Marcos State University at the time, was left to stay behind in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Arsenio Balisacan received critical support from the East-West Center while studying at the University of Hawaii.

Arsenio Balisacan served as research intern from July 1982 to May 1984 and was a Joint-Doctoral Research Intern from May 1984 to September 1985 under the Resource Systems Institute of EWC.

Arsenio Balisacan was conferred the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award by the East-West Center and East-West Center Alumni Association, the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award by the UPLB Alumni Association, the 2005 Outstanding Alumni Award by the East-West Center Alumni Association Philippines, and the 2004 Most Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Mariano Marcos State University.

Arsenio Balisacan then moved to Washington DC in 1986 to serve as an economist for the World Bank.

Arsenio Balisacan came back to the Philippines in 1987 and became an assistant professor of economics at the University of the Philippines Los Banos until 1988, when he moved to UP Diliman and joined the faculty of the University of the Philippines School of Economics, eventually receiving an academic appointment as full professor in 1995.

Arsenio Balisacan was a recipient of various academic and professional awards.

Arsenio Balisacan was elected as academician to the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines in 2008.

Arsenio Balisacan was a member of the board of academic advisors of the Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy at the Chinese Science Academy and president of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists.

Arsenio Balisacan was chairman of the board of academic advisors of the Asian Institute of Management's Center for Bridging Societal Divides and member of the policy advisory council of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

Arsenio Balisacan is one of the most cited scholars in the Philippines with an h-index of 31 according to Google Scholar.

Arsenio Balisacan returned to this position as Undersecretary for Policy and Planning at the Department of Agriculture for a brief stint in 2003.

Back at UP, in 2010, Arsenio Balisacan was appointed dean of the School of Economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Secretary Arsenio Balisacan was tasked to address the critical constraints that make economic growth slow, uneven, and exclusive to certain segments of the Philippine society.

At these key positions, Secretary Arsenio Balisacan was able to influence policies, programs, and projects to facilitate inclusive economic growth, employment creation, and poverty reduction.

Arsenio Balisacan was partly to be commended for the recent remarkable performance of the Philippine economy.

On May 27,2022, Arsenio Balisacan accepted the offer to become Director-General of the National Economic Development Authority under the incoming administration of Bongbong Marcos, who was then the presumptive president.

Arsenio Balisacan has run in the New York Marathon in 2021, Paris Marathon in 2019, Chicago Marathon in October 2017 and in the Honolulu Marathon in 2012.