Director General’s Corner

DG's PROFILE

On March 23, 2023, President Marcos appointed Tereso O. Panga as the new Director General of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

With a career spanning 27 years under PEZA, Mr. Panga rose from the ranks as formerly the Division Chief of Policy Planning (2000), Zone Manager of Lima Technology Center and other Ecozones in Batangas (2002), and Zone Administrator of Baguio City Economic Zone (2004) and Cavite Economic Zone (2008), and the Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning since 2010.

A Career Executive Service (CES) eligible since 2002, Mr. Panga is PEZA’s lead manager for policy and planning, ecozone development, digital transformation, special projects and programs, management information systems, building and environmental code compliance, energy efficiency and other eco-industrial initiatives.

Mr. Panga obtained his BA Comparative Literature (1991) and MA Industrial Relations (2000) from the University of the Philippines – Diliman. He also completed an executive course on Urban, Industrial and Environmental Management at the National University of Singapore (2009), and participated in the 3rd Temasek Leaders in Economic Development Programme for Senior Public Officials at the Civil Service College in Singapore (2016). 

In recognition of his exemplary service, DG Theo was a 2015 Top 10 National Finalist at the annual Presidential Gawad Career Executive Service Awards for best performing career government officials as administered by the Career Executive Service Board. He also won the 2020 Best Policy Foresight Paper in the Executive Course on Leadership, Innovation, Communication, and Knowledge Management (CLICK) for third-level government officials as administered by the Development Academy of the Philippines. More recently, he was recognized as the Heroes’ Outstanding Leader in Economic Development by Asia’s Modern Hero Awards Council in 2023 and received the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) Distinguished Alumni Award for Economic Development and Foreign Direct Investment Generation in 2024.