FINANCE ministers are given the task of ensuring the sustained growth of their country’s economy amid challenges confronting many nations. Despite this, officials like Finance Minister Cesar V. Purisima are able to make a difference.
Purisima has proven himself to be capable of helping the country remain on a growth path. The country is fortunate to have been given someone who never settles for mediocrity and has the guts to roll out measures, however painful, to boost Philippine economy.
With his help, Philippine economy grew at an average of 6 percent since President Aquino assumed office and cut deficit to an all-time low. Stocks also rose by 125 percent and foreign direct investments expanded 6 percent in 10 months last year. The Philippines also obtained investment-grade status from major credit-rating agencies in the world.
Because of his achievements, Purisima is now one of the most respected finance ministers in Asia. He has also received various accolades since he assumed his position as the country’s finance secretary in 2010.
Finance Minister of the Year
Recently, Purisima added another feather in his cap when he was recognized as Finance Minister of Asia 2014, besting his counterparts in Singapore, China and Japan. Given by Hong Kong-based FinanceAsia Magazine, this latest honor marked the fourth consecutive year—the first in the history of the Philippines and the finance department—that Purisima has been acknowledged Finance Minister of the Year by global institutions.
FinanceAsia annually ranks the region’s finance ministers according to how they have positioned their countries to face economic challenges. With the help of many analysts, investors and bankers, the magazine weighs each minister’s contribution to the budget and fiscal policy; use and development of capital markets; contribution in structural reforms and regulation; investor perceptions; and independence.
Purisima was cited by FinanceAsia as the man who steered the Philippine economy to greater heights by achieving a high, broad-based economic growth. Mainly, he has been lauded for his role in pushing for sin-tax reform, which boosted the health budget by 57 percent from 2013, and reached the highest level in excise-tax collection in 10 years.
FinanceAsia also noted that during his tenure, the country’s economic growth rate has hit a high of 7.6 percent to a low of 3.7 percent. In 2014 it is estimated to be around 5.7 percent and in the next two years looks set to rise above 6-percent again.
Purisima has tapped bond markets in a timely fashion and secured favorable borrowing rates. This year, FinanceAsia said the Philippines has raised $2 billion through a bond float, the first sovereign issue of 2015. Purchases reached $13.5 billion, suggesting investors are still buying into the country’s growth story.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury noted that under Purisima’s leadership, the Philippine government’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio is at its lowest level in 15 years.
FinanceAsia also cited that, although the country has benefited from strong remittance inflows from Filipino workers based overseas, it was Purisima’s persistence to draw international investors into the country, which lifted the Philippine stock market by 125 percent since he took office.
“The award truly belongs to President Aquino and my colleagues in the Philippine Cabinet because the economic growth and fiscal reforms are truly a team effort, proving that ‘Good Governance is Good Economics.’
We have proven yet again that the Philippine miracle is not a one-hit wonder. We’re here to stay, and we are ready to play big in the world stage,” Purisima said during the awards ceremony on February 4.
“Reforms beget rewards. This award strengthens our resolve to double down on reforms: rationalize fiscal incentives, modernize our revenue-generating agencies, and engineer a competitive and equitable tax structure for all Filipinos,” he added.
Most decorated finance minister
Purisima was conferred by the Republic of France the Chevalier de l’Orde National du Mérite (rank of Knight) in the economic domain in 2001 for bringing together France and the Philippines. Moreover, he was named fellow of the Eminent Southeast Asians Programme, Singapore International Foundation in 2003.
In 2011 Purisima was recognized as the Finance Minister of the Year for Asia by Emerging Markets, while Euromoney gave him the distinction of Finance Minister of the Year for 2012. In 2013 he became a repeat awardee of the Finance Minister of the Year for Asia distinction from Emerging Markets. He was furthermore cited by The Banker as Finance Minister of the Year for Asia Pacific in 2013. Purisima is also the first and so far only repeat awardee of the said distinction from Emerging Markets since the publication started recognizing Finance Ministers of the Year for Asia in 2007.
Success story
Purisima is the son of an Ilocano lawyer who migrated to Mindanao. He was a child who enjoyed the simple things in life, as well as the cosmopolitan reprieve which the rural enclave of General Santos City had to offer.
In 1971, his father, a former secretary to Sen. Salipada Pendatun, was elected as delegate to the Constitutional Convention and the family moved to Quezon City. Because of this, Purisima transferred to Marikina for his high school education.
And so it was that before Purisima became the man with responsibilities of international scope, he was first a promdi among urbanites, and had quite a struggle fitting in. He was a new kid with a Visayan accent which people noticed and which he became conscious about.
Purisima needed to blend in with his new surroundings and in time, he did. Later in life, as a manager of people, he would look back to this transition as the moment he learned the importance of being able to work with different kinds of people.
He had previously described himself as a kid who was better with numbers than with words. But because of his fondness for mathematics, he excelled enough to be able to compete in academic contests. Also, the young Purisima enjoyed playing chess, which enabled him to join tournaments. He was affiliated with the Philippine Chess Federation, where he was mentored by the country’s chess masters.
Purisima’s family was supportive of his interest in chess, believing that it developed analytical skills essential for a career in law. With a father and uncles all passionate about the legal profession, Purisima’s career has already he been charted for him even before he went into college.
He aspired to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)-lawyer so he took up accountancy in De La Salle University. However, the young Purisima wasn’t so keen about studying. Having finished high school at 14, he was too young to take college seriously. He described himself as an average college student, until the last two years when he finally became more serious in his studies. Also during that time in his college years, martial law was its peak. In 1978 during the Interim Batasang Pambansa election, Purisima became more involved in the student council, as well as social causes.
When Purisima become one of the topnotchers in the CPA board exams of 1979, he decided to join SGV & Co., the country’s biggest professional services firm.
His father still hoped that he would eventually become a lawyer and he promised that he would work for just a couple of years and then go to law school. But before things could go according to plan, he was off to Chicago to get an Master of Business Administration degree, inspired by his bosses who were not lawyers but accountants with MBAs and were doing so well in their chosen field.
After Purisima finished his MBA, specializing in international economics and finance, at Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University in Illinois, he rejoined SGV, and became too engrossed with his job to stick to the original plan of becoming a lawyer like the rest of his family. But, also at that point, Purisima was already excelling in his career and his father no longer pressed him to become a lawyer.
Purisima is described by his people as a leader with a “high-touch style.” In his SGV days, he likes walking around the office, seeing the people work and talking to them. Purisima said his background of wanting to blend in and becoming one with people around him helped him become an efficient and considerate leader.
Purisima was also the kind of leader who typically works 18 hours at the office, working with zeal, not leaving until all the tasks are done. He said he owes it to his parents for learning about the importance of hard work. His father was a working student in his time, while his mother was a stay-at-home mom who devoted her time molding her children, and they set an example to Purisima’s dedication to earnest productivity.
Eventually, Purisima became chairman and managing partner of SGV until 2004. While at the top of his game in the financial sector, he became area managing partner for Asia Pacific for Assurance and Business Service of Andersen Worldwide, the first and only Filipino so far to head the area practice of a Big 4 accounting firm. In Ernst & Young Global, he was a member of both the Global Executive Board and Global Practice Council. He has also been conferred the highest awards in accountancy by the Professional Regulation Commission and the Philippine Institute of CPAs.
After his stint in the private sector, Purisima became more involved in the government. He became a member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and served as governor for the Philippines at the World Bank and alternate governor for the Philippines at the International Monetary Fund. He was secretary of trade in 2004 to 2005, and served the same position as secretary of the Department of Finance briefly in 2005. He was chairman of the Board of Governors in 2011 to 2012, and in May 2012, he chaired the 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors held in Manila. He is also presently governor for the Philippines at the Asian Development Bank.
Today, Purisima is also remembered as the leader of a group of defiant Cabinet officials that asked former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign. Eventually, after the Hyatt 10 episode, Purisima briefly left the government. This gave Purisima the chance to rediscover himself. He got married to Corrie de la Cruz, whom he met back in SGV, then spent more time with his family and got to travel for pleasure rather than business.
After a brief rest, Purisima is back in the game to serve the nation to the best of his abilities, and to continue making significant contributions to help lift the country out of poverty.