Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto called on the men and women of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to stand firm in their duty of raising revenues for the country to fund the needs and dreams of Filipinos.
“I stand proudly with you. Without your thankless and tireless labor, the government will not be able to redeem its promises to the people, and the nation will not be able to realize its dreams,” he said in his speech during the BIR’s 121st Anniversary on August 1, 2025.
In 2024, BIR collections rose by 13.29% to PHP 2.852 trillion. From January to June 2025, BIR collections continued to grow double-digit by 14.11% or PHP 1.55 trillion.
On a daily basis, the BIR needs to collect PHP 8.60 billion in order to support the spending of PHP 17.40 billion per day.
Meanwhile, the Finance Chief stressed the fact that all government programs and projects are ultimately funded by taxpayers, with revenues mainly collected by the BIR and the Bureau of Customs (BOC). This is why he pushes for strict adherence to fiscal discipline, ensuring that spending plans are aligned with revenue capacity to avoid overappropriation.
“Even so-called “free items” adored by the people today will have to be paid for later, by them. When the bill comes, it is the taxpayer who will pay the tab. The buck stops with them,” he said.
“At sino pine-pressure kapag singilan na at puputok na ang mga bayarin? Hindi yung mga umani ng pogi points, pero yung mga kontrabida sa revenue raising sector,” the Finance Chief added.
“At alam naman natin na raising money to fund the budget is increasingly hard under a political culture that sees spending taxes as a virtue, but collecting them as a sin; which treats their evasion as a sport, but their imposition a crime,” Secretary Recto said.
More importantly, the Finance Chief assured the public that every peso collected would be spent well and transparently to encourage more tax compliance.
“People are naturally born resistant to taxes. But their tax obedience can be won if they will see how the taxes they paid are spent for the right things, at the right price, by the right agency, at the right time. As it stands, BIR should not be collateral damage of the problems on the expenditure side,” he added.
“Kaya’t taus-puso ang aming pasasalamat sa inyong lahat, sa bawat oras at patak ng pawis na inyong inaalay upang ang bansa natin ay patuloy na umusad. Sa bawat pisong inyong nalilikom, nakaukit ang pag-asa at pangarap ng sambayanang Pilipino,” Secretary Recto said in closing.
