Secretary Carlos Dominguez III underscored Monday the firm resolve of the Department of Finance (DOF) to keep the country’s strong fiscal position and ensure ample financial resources in the protracted battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the parallel efforts to reinvigorate the economy.

Speaking on the occasion of the DOF’s 124th anniversary, Dominguez thanked the men and women of the Department for doing their part in the “extremely difficult” task of getting congressional approval for the needed measures under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), which has helped “accelerate poverty reduction and attain the President’s promise of genuine change.”

“It is through your hard work and dedication that made our success in passing the tax reform packages possible,” Dominguez said during the DOF’s virtual anniversary celebration held via Zoom.

“But our work is not yet over. We all know the most difficult part of any reform is implementation. And I urge all of you to work hard to ensure that the laws we have shepherded are fully implemented and irreversible. In addition, we must continue to push for the passage of the remaining tax reform packages,” he said.

Dominguez said that with the DOF’s bigger task of putting in place the necessary measures to help the nation recover from the pandemic, he expects “continuous innovation and excellence from this agency that has proven time and again its ability to bring about positive change.”

“I am confident that together, we will accomplish the goals we set out for ourselves. Our associates at the DOF, from the highly technical teams to those who provide indispensable support, demonstrated admirable grit and dedication during the past months of great challenge. You have all earned my gratitude and my faith,” Dominguez told his fellow DOF workers.

“We started strong. We will end stronger than ever,” he added.

Dominguez cited a few of the DOF’s notable accomplishments last year, among them, the hard work of engaging with the Congress in crafting fiscally responsible economic stimulus packages; its lead role in implementing the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program; and its strong advocacy of infusing additional capital in government financial institutions (GFIs) to broaden lending to pandemic-hit enterprises.

The DOF also worked hard to raise revenues for the national effort to defeat the pandemic, seek international funding to reinforce the healthcare system, purchase the needed medical equipment and vaccines, as well as fund the government’s economic recovery program, Dominguez said.

“The essential role we played benefited from the fiscal discipline we maintained and the reform measures we won over the last five years of this administration,” Dominguez said.

“We entered 2020 with a strong fiscal position and a manageable debt profile. We had won the highest credit ratings ever. Our series of tax reforms provided the country a reliable revenue flow. Our record of fiscal discipline eased access to urgent financing as we battled the pandemic,” he said.

Even with the pandemic, the DOF was able to accomplish its goal of continuing to reform the tax system as proven by the passage of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE), “which makes our Comprehensive Tax Reform Program nearly complete,” Dominguez said.

“Passing this measure was particularly hard during the pre-pandemic times, but pushing for its enactment at the height of a crisis was even more difficult,” he noted.

Dominguez also cited the administrative reforms achieved by the DOF-attached revenue agencies—the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC)—particularly the rapid digitalization of their systems and processes, which anticipated the broader shift to contactless transactions during the pandemic.

He said that beyond these remarkable achievements, the DOF still needs to work on the passage of the remaining CTRP packages, which aim to reform the property valuation system and tax passive income and financial intermediaries.

The DOF also has to continue its efforts to further broaden and deepen the financial sector to help drive truly inclusive growth; mobilize enterprises to help build resiliency; and deploy “the powerful instruments of financial technologies to accomplish good things for our people—from more efficient governance to the mitigation of climate change,” Dominguez said.

“We have bigger tasks ahead of us. I expect continuous innovation and excellence from this agency that has proven time and time again its ability to bring about positive change,” he said. “Let us continue to do our best to build a strong and resilient fiscal regime for the Philippines and for our future generations. Let us do our utmost to provide a better, greener, and healthier economy for the Filipino people.”

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