The youngest appointee in the Marcos Cabinet is a Guinness World Records holder for having the largest stamp collection featuring popes.
Newly-appointed budget chief Kim Robert De Leon is the youngest Cabinet member of the Marcos administration. At 35 years old, he will head the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The DBM is the agency responsible for managing government spending and ensuring that public funds are allocated and used properly, fairly and transparently to improve the quality of life of Filipinos.
The agency is mandated to promote the sound, efficient and effective management and utilization of government resources as an instrument for achieving national socioeconomic and political development goals.
Reports said De Leon’s appointment ends a five-month leadership vacuum after former DBM chief Amenah Pangandaman stepped down from the post amid the flood control corruption scandal.
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De Leon replaces acting DMB secretary Rolando Toledo, who has led the DBM since December. Toledo will transfer to the Government Service Insurance System as a member of the Board of Trustees representing government retiree associations.
The Palace described De Leon as a career public servant recognized for his work in fiscal management, organizational reform and digital transformation.
De Leon served as DBM undersecretary from 2021 to 2022, handling the Organization and Systems Improvement and Information and Communications Technology Groups.
He also worked as an assistant secretary and director IV at the same agency.
De Leon then moved to the Department of Transportation, where he served as undersecretary for administration and finance from 2022 to 2024 under then-Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
The new DBM chief also served as an executive member, assistant national treasurer and secretary general of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.
De Leon graduated magna cum laude from the University of the Philippine- Diliman and valedictorian of Navotas National High School.
Also among De Leon’s achievements is holding a Guinness World Records title for the largest stamp collection of popes.
He has 2,398 postage stamps of Roman Catholic leaders, with the bulk featuring Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, both pontiffs who visited the Philippines.
De Leon achieved the feat in Navotas City on Feb. 22, 2022. The counting took place at a parish and was overseen by a priest.
It coincided with the 41st anniversary of the first visit of Pope John Paul II and the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, the first Pope.
Guinness said that De Leon began collecting stamps as a hobby and has a keen interest in popes. It added that he is an active member of the ministry.
In 2024, his stamp collection was displayed at Robinsons Manila in an exhibit organized by the Philippine Postal Corporation and co-presented by the mall through the Lingkod Pinoy Center.
— with reports from Philstar.com/Cristina Chi
