Placido "Cidito" Ledesma Mapa Jr. (June 24, 1932 – May 5, 2019) a Filipino businessman, economist, and government official best known for having served as the second head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), which is the Philippines' highest economic and development planning body.
[2] He served Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) for over 30 years in various capacities including President and vice-chairman.
Mapa Jr. was the Founding Chairman of the Board of the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), and of the University of Asia and the Pacific which evolved from it.
Mapa attended high school in De La Salle Manila (1951), obtained his A.B.
[5] https://www.dlsaa.com/honors-and-awards/awardees/mapa-placido-l-jr It was at Harvard that Mapa first encountered and joined Opus Dei, becoming its first Filipino supernumerary member.
In 1964, Mapa was recruited by President Diosdado Macapagal in 1964 to serve as Deputy Director General for the Program Implementation Agency (PIA), an advisory group Macapagal created to support the economic work of the Office of the President.
One of Marcos' early strategies for was to surround himself with US-trained economists, projecting his administration as young, modern, and professional.
Marcos then elevated Mapa Director General when he renamed the PIS as the Presidential Economic Staff (PES).
[8] Placed under him as deputies were Alejandro Melchor, whom Marcos would later appoint as executive secretary, and Cesar Zalamea who would later serve as DBP chair.
[8] In 1981, Marcos once again tapped Mapa's services – this time to head the NEDA (National Economic & Development Authority) as its second Director General, after Gerardo Sicat.