Tereso O. Panga

Tereso O. Panga, known in PEZA and industry circles as Theo and by the initials T.O.P., was appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as the first home-grown PEZA Director General on 23 March 2023.

DG Theo started as a Planning Officer III in 1998 and worked his way up to become the Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning in 2010, a position he held until his appointment as Director General. Throughout his career in PEZA, DG Theo was responsible for policy and planning, ecozone development, digital transformation, special projects and programs, and other eco-industrial initiatives.

DG Theo earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature from UP Diliman in 1991 and his Master's degree in Industrial Relations from the same university in 2000. He also completed an Executive Course on Urban, Industrial, and Environmental Management at the National University of Singapore in 2009.

DG Theo is 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. Recently, he has been recognized as a Heroes’ Outstanding Leader in Economic Development by Asia’s Modern Hero Awards Council (2023).