Usec. Beltran named first Tax Academy president

FINANCE Chief Economist and retired Undersecretary Gil Beltran was named as the Philippine Tax Academy’s (PTA) first president.

The PTA Board of Trustees unanimously voted to elect Beltran without prejudice to his subsequent reappointment in the next administration. He will serve up to June 30 this year.

Beltran was first appointed by President Duterte as a member of the PTA Board of Trustees representing the academe last January 18.

Prior to his appointment as PTA President, Beltran was the Finance Undersecretary for the Policy Development and Management Services Group and previously served as Finance Undersecretary for the Corporate Affairs Group and Privatization Office.

On secondment at the World Bank (WB), he served in various positions, including as Alternate Executive Director (January 2003-January 2005), Advisor to the Executive Director (February to May 1995, August-november 1990) and as Secretary of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Group of 24 on International Monetary and Financial Affairs (G24) Bureau in Washington DC.

Beltran was also a visiting lecturer at the University of the Philippines and a lecturer at the Development Academy of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, retired Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa S. Habitan was also appointed as Chancellor of the PTA.

Habitan, who will serve as one of three Chancellors of the PTA, served as the Finance Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance Group, where she was responsible for fiscal policy formulation and fiscal planning.

She also worked as an advisor and alternate executive director at the World Bank.

Under Republic Act (RA) 10143, the PTA “shall serve as a learning institution for tax collectors and administrators of the government and selected applicants from the private sector.”

RA 10143 also mandates that “all existing officials and personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) shall be required to undergo the re-tooling and enhancement seminars and training programs to be conducted by the PTA. All applicants to the said bureaus shall also be required to pass the basic courses before they can be hired whether on contractual or permanent status.”

Led by Chairman Carlos G. Dominguez III, the PTA Board of Trustees also includes as co-vice chairpersons BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay and BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero and BLGF Executive Director Niño Raymond B. Alvina as member. The seats for the two other representatives of the academe have yet to be filled.