Portrait of a foodie as a public servant

CURTAIN CALL The author with her team at the Department of Budget and Management. —Margaux Salcedo

Hello from New York City!

I am here for the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), joining Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman as she represents the Philippines and prepares to take on a global leadership role as part of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

As I mentioned in my column last week, after 20 years of writing for the Inquirer and after 10 years in the Business section as columnist of this delicious column, First Class, it is now time to retire as I take on the role of undersecretary at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). This is my final column for First Class.

To those who messaged that they will miss First Class, my heartfelt thank you! And to those who expressed congratulations on my pivot to public service, thank you as well!

As undersecretary, my focus group, which has a 40-strong team and four divisions, handles advocacy, capacity development, economic affairs and stakeholder relations, as well as publications and the DBM Library.

Budget publications play an essential role in fulfilling our commitments to having an open budget and I am happy to share that within a year of working hard on our timely and comprehensive publications, we have improved our ratings in the Open Budget Index, bringing the Philippines to rank No. 1 in Asia in budget transparency based on the 2023 Open Budget Survey.

The efforts of the Philippines, through our Budget Secretary, for the OGP have also been well received in New York!

Just last Thursday, at the OGP roundtable of ministers on the sidelines of the UNGA, the New Government Procurement Act, which the DBM’s Legal team, Procurement Service and Procurement Policy Board worked hard on, was well received as a major anticorruption measure as it introduces open contracting and disclosure of beneficial ownership. And on Oct. 1, the Philippines, represented by Sec. Mina, will begin work as part of the international OGP Steering Committee, championing open government to the community of nations.

We’re well aware that there’s a lot to work on but we’re trying to have wins where we can!

Meanwhile, I’ll keep writing when I can—please join me at margauxsalcedo.com. You’ll find me there writing on faith, finance and economics and of course, food!

So au revoir! This marks the end of an era. How fitting to close this chapter in New York, where my relationship with the Inquirer began: My very first submission to the Inquirer was a contributed article on the Hudson Hotel (now closed) and Cendrillon (also closed) for Global Nation under Joey Alarilla in 2004!

Thank you, Inquirer, for the most delicious 20 years! I will forever be grateful!