Jose Isidro "Lito" Navato Camacho is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

who served as the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

' Secretary of

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

and later on as Finance under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

. After his short stint in the government, he returned to the private sector, and now serves as Vice-Chairman of Credit Suisse of Asia–Pacific and its

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Country Chief Executive Officer; Non-Executive Chairman of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines); director of SymAsia Foundation (Singapore), and member of the board of

National Gallery Singapore ms, Galeri Kebangsaan Singapura ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கலைக்கூடம் , logo = National_Gallery_Singapore_logo.svg , image = Interior_of_the_National_Gallery_Singapore.jpg , caption = Interior of ...

. He is also a member of the Group of Experts of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum, Singapore's Securities Industry Council, and the International Advisory Panel of the Securities Commission of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Personal life

Camacho was born in Balanga, Bataan to Teodoro Camacho, Jr. and Leonarda Navato. His grandfather, Teodoro Camacho, Sr. was congressman and governor of

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

. He finished high school

Don Bosco Technical Institute Don Bosco Technical Institute (commonly called "Bosco Tech" or "The Tech") is an all-male (grades 9-12), private, Catholic high school in Rosemead, California, combining college-preparatory academic courses and technological education. The acade ...

in Mandaluyong in 1972, and in 1975 he graduated cum laude with an A.B. Mathematics degree from De La Salle University in Manila. He studied and obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

with a concentration on Finance from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in the

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in 1979.

Professional career

After college, Camacho worked at Banco Filipino, before he left to pursue graduate studies in the United States. Upon his return to the Philippines, he went back to the banking industry, and in 1995 became Senior Managing Director and Country Head of Bankers Trust New York. Later on, he became Managing Director and Chief Country Officer of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

in the Philippines. From 1999 to 2000, he was Managing Director and chief of Country Coverage for Investment Banking for the Asian Region of Deutsche Bank based in Singapore.

Government service

Camacho was appointed Energy Secretary by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she took office in 2001. During his tenure, much needed reforms in the country's power sector were passed into law. On his third month as Energy Secretary, he was reassigned by Macapagal-Arroyo as Secretary of Finance, a post he held until November 2003 when he returned to the private sector. Upon his resignation as Secretary, news of the President's inaction on Camacho's recommendations for the

Government Service Insurance System The Government Service Insurance System ( fil, Paseguruhan ng mga Naglilingkod sa Pamahalaan, abbreviated as GSIS) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) of the Philippines. Created by Commonwealth Act No. 186 and Republic Act ...

was perceived to have prompted it. His resignation brought anxieties and uncertainties in the government and caused the

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

to plummet against the

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, ...

to a record low. Camacho was recognized for his significant contributions in managing and stabilizing the country's fiscal deficit, and was even acknowledged by several groups of businessmen and investors as one of the best Finance secretaries the Philippines has ever had. The country's '' Anti-Money Laundering Law'' (R.A. 9160) was also passed under his tenure.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho, Jose Isidro Filipino bankers Living people Secretaries of Finance of the Philippines Secretaries of Energy of the Philippines Credit Suisse people 1955 births Arroyo administration cabinet members De La Salle University alumni Harvard Business School alumni