Carlos Domínguez III | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 31stSecretary of Finance | |
| In office June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022 | |
| President | Rodrigo Duterte |
| Preceded by | Cesar Purisima |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin E. Diokno |
| 31stSecretary of Agriculture | |
| In office March 9, 1987 – December 31, 1989 | |
| President | Corazon Aquino |
| Preceded by | Ramon V. Mitra Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Senen C. Bacani |
| 21stSecretary of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Minister of Natural Resources (1986–1987) Minister of Environment, Energy and Natural Resource (January–February 1987) | |
| In office October 25, 1986 – March 9, 1987 | |
| President | Corazon Aquino |
| Preceded by | Ernesto M. Maceda |
| Succeeded by | Fulgencio S. Factoran Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carlos García Domínguez III (1945-09-16)September 16, 1945 (age 80) |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Party | PDP–Laban |
| Spouse | Cynthia Andrews |
| Alma mater | Ateneo de Manila University(BS,M.B.A) |
| Profession | Businessman, Politician |
Carlos Garcia "Sonny" Domínguez III (born September 16, 1945)[1] is a Filipino businessman who was appointed as Philippine Cabinet Secretary thrice: as Minister of Natural Resources (1986-1987), Secretary of Agriculture (1987-1989), and as Secretary of Finance (2016-2022).[2]
He has over four decades of vast experience and an outstanding track record of achievements at the helm of various organizations in the public and private sectors. His expertise was borne out of his experiences as a shareholder, CEO, and a board member of over a dozen corporations across multi-industries such as power, agriculture, mining, banking, hospitality, real estate, and investment.
Domínguez comes from a prominentZamboangueño family inDavao City. Born on September 16, 1945, inZamboanga City, he is the son of Carlos Domínguez, Jr. and Virginia Ubeda García. His grandfather Carlos Domínguez Sr. was a pre-World War II head of theBank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in Mindanao.[3]
He grew up in Davao and attended elementary and high school at theAteneo de Davao University where he was a classmate of President Rodrigo Duterte.[4]
He moved toManila for his college studies at theAteneo de Manila University. Domínguez graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1965 and received a Master of Business Management from the same university in 1969. He also pursued post-graduate studies in California where he completed the Executive Program fromStanford University's Graduate School of Business in 1982.[5]
From 1969 thru 1982, Dominguez managed agriculture-related enterprises ranging from agricultural machinery distribution and 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of farmland producing bananas for export, as well as coconuts, cacao, rice, and cattle.
Dominguez joined the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in 1983 as President of the BPI Agricultural Development Bank before being invited by PresidentCorazon Aquino to join her administration. He assumed the leadership of theMinistry of Natural Resources in 1986 and theDepartment of Agriculturein 1987 while also serving as Director of the government-ownedLand Bank of the Philippines.[4][5]
After leaving government service in 1989, Dominguez entered the tobacco, energy, real estate, retail, hospitality, mining, and copper smelting industries and served as CEO of companies such as the Retail Specialist Inc., Philippine Tobacco Flue-Curing and Redrying Corp., Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. as well as Halifax Capital Resources Inc. (owner of two four-star hotels in the Philippines). He joined thePhilippine Airlines in 1993 and served as its Chairman and CEO in the 1990s.[5]
In his long business career after his first stint in government, Dominguez served on the boards ofRCBC Capital Corp. House of Investments, Shangri-la Plaza Corp., Northern Mindanao Power Corp., Easycall Communications Philippines, Lafayette Philippines, Transnational Diversified Group, Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Roxas Holdings, and United Paragon Mining Corp. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Director ofMeralco.[5]
He was the treasurer of the successful2016 presidential campaign of Rodrigo Duterte.[4]
Dominguez III is anIndependent director ofGT Capital who replaced Pascual Garcia III.[6]
Dominguez returned to government service on July 1, 2016, as President Duterte'sSecretary of Finance, and led the implementation of the Duterte administration's ZERO-TO-TEN-POINT socioeconomic agenda.[7]
As Secretary of Finance, Dominguez served as a member of the Monetary Board of theBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Governor for the Philippines at theAsian Development Bank (ADB), the Governor for the Philippines at theWorld Bank, and Alternate Governor for the Philippines at theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF).
His post also made him ex-officio Chairman of various government-owned institutions – theLand Bank of the Philippines, thePhilippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), theSocial Security System (SSS), the Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PHILGUARANTEE), thePhilippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM), the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), theNational Transmission Corporation (NPC), and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).
As Secretary of Finance, he had supervision over theBureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), theBureau of Customs (BOC), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTR), the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), the Insurance Commission (IC), the National Tax Research Center (NTRC), the Central Board of Assessment Appeal (CBAA), the Privatization Management Office (PMO), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), theDevelopment Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.(PCIC), and theGovernment Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Dominguez was also the chairperson of the Cabinet-level Economic Development Cluster. He also served as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB), which is tasked to coordinate and resolve issues affecting the implementation of theBangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the programs and projects of the national government in theBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). In addition, he was the President’s representative to the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
Under his leadership, the Department of Finance (DOF) was able to draft and introduce to Congress the first of a series of the Duterte administration’s proposed tax reform packages known as theTax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN) Act less than 90 days from the time he assumed the Cabinet portfolio in July 2016.[8]
President Duterte signed into law the TRAIN Act on December 19, 2017, which reduced the personal income taxes for 99 percent of taxpayers in the country, giving them much-needed relief after 20 years of non-adjustment.
TRAIN was followed by other successes in the legislature such as the passage of the Tax Amnesty Act, the Tobacco Tax Reform Law, and a Sin Tax Reform Law that raised excise taxes on alcohol and electronic cigarettes to help fund the Universal Health Care Program.[9][10][11]
On Dominguez’s watch, the Philippines’ key revenue agencies—the BIR and the BOC continued to achieve strong revenue growth rates. It was also under his leadership that the BIR was able to collect its largest tax settlement from a single taxpayer in Philippine history amounting to PHP 30 billion or USD 600 million.
Dominguez also succeeded in placing the Philippines in a more stable fiscal position by combating corruption and modernizing the country's tax collections and payments.
He also led the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Act, which liberalized the Philippine rice market and, in turn, lowered the price of the country’s staple food for more than 100 million Filipinos.[12]
Dominguez also led the funding efforts for the Duterte administration’s USD 170 billionBuild! Build! Build! Infrastructure Program through concessional loans from partner countries and institutions, such as Japan, South Korea, China, the European Union, the United States, and from the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the ADB. As a result, the government's infrastructure spending rose from a pre-2016 average of 2.5% to above 5% of the country’s GDP during the Duterte administration.[13][14]
With Dominguez at the helm of the DOF, the Philippines maintained strong investor and consumer confidence and achieved credit rating upgrades from major credit rating agencies--Standard & Poor's,Moody's,Fitch Ratings, and theJapan Credit Rating Agency.
The Philippines enjoyed a record low debt-to-GDP ratio of 39.6% in 2019 with Dominguez as head of the country’s economic team. Through bold tax reforms and better tax administration, he was also able to raise the Philippines’ revenue effort to 16.1% of GDP in 2019, the country’s best performance in more than two decades.
During the pandemic, Dominguez spearheaded the funding of the country’s procurement of vaccines and direct responses to the economic downturn. The Philippines’ COVID-19 response program amounted to about PHP 3 trillion, equivalent to 15.6 percent of GDP.
To help pandemic-hit businesses get back on their feet, Dominguez pushed for the enactment of COVID-19-recovery measures. These include the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE), which gave tax breaks to 99 percent of business enterprises; and the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Act (FIST) to help relieve the banking system from bad loans and other non-performing assets.
Dominguez was conferred by the President of the Philippines with the Order of Lakandula with the Rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) for his exemplary service to the nation. The Order of Lakandula is awarded to distinguished persons of political and civic merit.
Dominguez was also conferred by the Emperor of Japan with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for exercising outstanding leadership in promoting cooperation between Japan and the Philippines. The recognition is the highest ordinarily conferred order in Japan.
Domínguez is married to Cynthia "Ball" Andrews, the daughter of the late Colonel Antonio Andrews of thePhilippine Air Force (PAF) Flying School Class of 1949, and one of the pioneers of the PAF. They have four children, Rafael, Mary Edwina, Ignacio, and Xavier, and six grandchildren.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas Minister of Natural Resources | Secretary of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources 1986–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of Agriculture 1987–1989 | Succeeded by Senen C. Bacani |
| Preceded by | Secretary of Finance 2016–2022 | Succeeded by |
