Guest of Honor and Speaker’s Profile: Benjamin E. Diokno, Ph.D.

Specialization

Professor Diokno provides policy advice and conducts research in the following areas: public economics (with focus on structure and scope of government, tax policies and tax reform; government expenditure analysis; national budget, deficit and debt; and decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations), public expenditure management, resource economics (with focus on public policy on water and oil), and economic development (with focus on ASEAN transitional economies).

Designation

Present Position: Secretary, Department of Budget and Management, Republic of the Philippines

Immediate Past Positions: Senior Advisor, International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC); Professorial Lecturer, School of Economics, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Chairman, Board of Regents, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of The City of Manila) and concurrently Chairman, Board of Trustees, Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center; Independent Director, Asia United Bank

Personal Background

Date of Birth: March 31, 1948. Place of Birth: Taal, Batangas, Philippines. Nationality: Filipino.

Educational Background

Ph.D. (Economics), Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, U.S.A., 1981.

M.A. Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., 1976.

M.A. Economics, U. of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1974.

Certificate in Development Economics (With Very High Distinction), University of the Philippines - University of Wisconsin Program in Development Economics, School of Economics, U. of the Philippines, Diliman, 1972.

Master of Public Administration, U. of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1970.

B.A. Public Adm., U. of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1968.

Honors, Awards Received

Recipient, 2014 Most Outstanding Citizen Award, Quezon City (Philippines)

Recipient, Visiting Professorship in International and ASEAN Studies, University of Toronto, January-December 1998. This is an award to select scholars in the ASEAN region; it was subsequently given up by the recipient in order to serve as Secretary of Budget and Management in the Philippine Government.

1998 Outstanding Scientific Paper: “Exchange Rate Policy: Recent Failures and Future Tasks,” Public Policy 1(1):15-41 (Oct.-Dec. 1997). Awarded by the National Academy of Science and Technology, July 1998. (Jointly with Emmanuel S. de Dios, Raul V. Fabella, Felipe M. Medalla and Solita C. Monsod).

Most Outstanding Faculty Member (for Public Service), University of the Philippines (Diliman), June 1991.

Fellow, The Rockefeller Foundation, August 1974 to November 1976.

University of the Philippines Economics Project Fellow, School of Economics, U. of the Philippines, 1972-73.

Graduate Study Grantee, University of the Philippines College of Public Administration, 1968-69.

Employment Record

From 2014 to June 30, 2016. Employer: City Government of Manila. Position held and description of duties: Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (City University of Manila). Chairs the governing board of the 50-year old, chartered city university with a student population of approximately 10,000 students.

From 2012 to June 30, 2016. Employer: Asia United Bank. Position held and description of duties: Independent Director. Chairs the Risk Oversight Committee. Member of the following AUB Committees: Audit: Corporate Governance; Performance Evaluation, Compensation and Remuneration sub-committee; and Nomination Sub-Committee.

From June 1974 to March 2013. Employer: School of Economics, University of the Philippines. Position held and description of duties: Professor of Economics. Teach courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Courses taught include: Public Economics, Microeconomics, Development Economics, and Special Topics (Public Enterprises Investment and Pricing Policies; Public Sector Reforms). Conduct research and provide policy advice in the following areas: public economics (with focus on structure and scope of government tax policies and tax reform; government expenditure analysis; national budget, deficit and debt; and decentralization and intergovernmental relations), resource economics (with focus on public policy on water and oil), and economic development with focus on ASEAN transitional economies.

From July 1998 to January 2001. Employer: Department of Budget and Management, Republic of the Philippines. Position held and description of duties: Secretary of Budget and Management. Prepared the President’s annual budget for submission to and action by Congress. Implemented the annual budgets as approved by Congress. Chaired two Cabinet-level committees: the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) and the Presidential Committee on Effective Governance (PCEG). DBCC is responsible for annual and multi-year budget planning while PCEG is mandated to coordinate all efforts to reform the public sector. Major accomplishments: (a) initiated and implemented a package of public sector reforms that includes the strengthening of public expenditure management systems (such as the Medium-term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Performance Measurement, and Procurement Reforms); (b) caused the moratorium on the creation of new state universities and colleges; (c) effected the abolition of several government agencies; (d) initiated the conduct of several public expenditure sector studies; and (e) initiated the creation of the Budget Dialogue Group, a joint public-private sector top-level consultative group on strategic budget planning.

From January 1993 to September 1995. Employer: Office of the Senate President, Philippine Senate. Position held and description of duties: Fiscal Adviser. Provided economic advice to the Philippine Senate with focus on fiscal affairs. Served as senior technical representative of the Senate to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), the highest economic policy advisory council of the Philippine government. Major accomplishments: (a) assisted in the preparation of the Social Pact for People Empowered Economic Development (SPEED), a joint legislative-executive action plan for economic development and structural reform and (b) coordinated the technical work for the ratification of the GATT-WTO by the Senate.

From December 1998 to August 1991. Employer: Philippine National Oil Company. Position held and description of duties: Chairman and CEO: April-August 1991; Member, Board of Directors: December 1998-March 1991. PNOC, the Philippine Government’s energy company, has 13 subsidiaries in petroleum refinery and marketing, energy exploration and development, oil and coal shipping and shipyard operations, and coal mining. Major accomplishments: (a) initiated the groundwork for the privatisation of Petron, PNOC’s refinery and marketing operations, and (b) put back on track the government’s investment in indigenous (geothermal and natural gas) energy development.

From February 1986 to March 1991. Employer: Department of Budget and Management, Republic of the Philippines. Position held and description of duties: Undersecretary for Budget Operations. Prepared the President’s annual budgets from 1987 to 1991 for submission and action by Congress. Assisted the Secretary of Budget and Management in executing the annual budgets. Chaired the Executive Technical Board (ETB) of the Development Budget Coordination Committee. Major accomplishment: (a) a dramatic rise in the budget allocation for social services; (b) initiated a close link between the budget and the economic plan; (c) actively assisted in the design and sponsorship of the 1986 Tax Reform Program which increased significantly tax effort and tax responsiveness of the Philippine tax system; and (d) actively involved in the preparation of draft legislation for the Local Government Code of 1991 which led to significant fiscal decentralization in the Philippines.

From January 1990 to March 1991. Employer: Local Water Utilities Administration. Position held and description of duties: Chairman of the Board of Directors. This public corporation is responsible for providing financing and technical assistance to water districts all over the Philippines except for Metropolitan Manila. Major accomplishment: effected the reorganization of LWUA along regional lines to foster competition and improve internal efficiency.