Palace defends Dominguez over quit call

October 31, 2018

Malacanang has credited Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III for the country's economic growth amid calls for him to resign by some left-leaning congressmen and an anti-corruption group. In a statement on Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said President Rodrigo Duterte still trusts Dominguez. "Some quarters have been asking for the resignation of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez. The Palace finds no reason or basis for such call," he said. "Secretary Dominguez continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. As one of the President’s trusted economic managers, he steered our economy to become one of the best-performing growth leaders in the region and continues to perform remarkably," Panelo said. He noted revenue collections reached new record highs during Domingo's stewardship. "We expect Secretary Dominguez to maintain his superb work ethic for the rest of his stint in the Department of Finance," he said. ACT Teachers ­party-list Rep. France Castro and  Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao have called for Dominguez's resignation due to the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which was being blamed for high inflation. The Coalition Against Corruption has also made the same call amid the alleged massive corruption at the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the agencies attached to the Department of Finance. It said the DOF has not shown any visible initiative to curb corruption in these two agencies and Duterte's order for a military "takeover" of the BOC was an apparent admission of a failure in managing the agency. But Panelo said Dominguez is aware of what is happening in the bureau. "The corruption in the BOC is complex and the Secretary does not need to be blunt just to exhibit what he does to address it," he said. He said Dominguez was in touch with former BOC Chief Isidro Lapeña and he is slated to meet with the new Customs head Rey Leonardo Guerrero regarding the bureau’s operations. Celerina Monte/DMS