Former Finance Secretaries Benjamin E. Diokno, Margarito Teves, Jose Isidro Camacho, and Jose T. Pardo; Former and Current DOF Senior Officials; Heads of DOF Attached Agencies and Bureaus; Ladies and gentlemen: Good evening.

Whoever started this annual tradition of the Secretary’s Hour probably never knew the downside of gathering this many Finance Secretaries in one room— it makes the current one slightly nervous.

Still, it is my honor to see the shoulders of giants that I stand on today, they who, during their watch, filled the nation’s purse and fulfilled this nation’s great promises with a steady hand and spine made of steel.

If there is one thing that tells us what this evening really is, it is this: A reunion of battle-scarred veterans of past fiscal wars, when the nation was pulled from the brink, and even out of the abyss, of fiscal cliffs.

I hope that by going back here tonight, to this Ground Zero, does not give you a bout of PTSD.

And if you want to reclaim your old post, believe that no one will be happier than me.

A lot has happened since we last met a year.

Trade wars have been launched. Political alliances still held, coalitions have not yet crumbled, to name just a few.

Today, economic and political landscapes here and abroad continue to change, with light speed and tectonic force.

Albeit, too much, too fast, buffeting us with headwinds, and throwing roadblocks on our fiscal roadmap.

But whenever we’re thrown curveballs, I have no complaints.

Because a Finance Secretary who complains about macroeconomic challenges is like a ship captain who complains about the sea.

And in this age of trolls, when the metrics of performance are not what’s on the economic dashboard, but the count of likes and shares, he should not expect to win Mister Congeniality either.

This is so because he betrays the public trust when he panders to what may be popular but not right.

And right after I stepped on the plate, I was being given the full welcome package: a baptism in political firestorms, and the burden of explaining unpopular decisions that the masa and the market can both understand.

But when we made the difficult, controversial, but fiscally necessary moves, I took comfort not only in the wisdom of the crowd but also in the opinions of my predecessors.

For this is the jury whose approbation I looked forward to winning, because if I am right, then it tells me that I have been a good steward of an office they once held.

Because from their own tours of duty, one can learn what is required of this job: The country we serve does not need us to make the easy choices.

It demands us to make the right ones.

Even if sometimes, those right choices take you to Congress. Other times, they drag you to the Supreme Court. And yet, despite political crossfire and legal limbo, we push forward.

Thus, we eschew popularity surveys for the latest revenue reports.

Opinion polls do not excite us. But we look forward to the inflation numbers with much anticipation.

Our approval rating may plunge, and it is okay, for as long as the inflation needle does not move up.

And on these, I think we have done well.

The inflation has been tamed and trimmed.

Growth is on track.

The collections are increasing double-digit year-on-year.

Our credit ratings have been upgraded.

This is the scoreboard that matters to us.

If only if we are not blindsided by sudden and unprogrammed upticks in expenditures.

Because no matter how outstanding revenue collection is, it can be easily dissipated by overappropriation.

BIR and BOC can outperform, but these are for naught if overbudgeting raises the bar.

I dare say the time calls for a rebalancing of what we earn and what we spend.

Budgets should stand against the fulcrum of revenue-expenditure equilibrium, because when spending is boosted beyond what is feasible, debt bloats, and the fiscal plan goes bust.

We should be guided by one cardinal truth on how we spend –and that is, revenues are the upstream of appropriations, not the other way around.

We should be reminded again that taxes are what make the budget possible, not the latter forcing more of the former.

I say this because we are in the midst of the OPM or Oh Promise More season in the country today.

For that is how campaigns are conducted and votes are won in this land, by carpetbombing the people with promises of freebies, while forgetting that it takes taxes, to be paid by the people themselves, to realize these.

For rhetoric to become reality requires resources, to be raised by agencies from a people who are naturally averse to being burdened by more.

Good fiscal management in this era calls for a greater say by the revenue side on the expenditure ceilings.

We cannot be perpetual victims of fait accompli, like the designated payor of a restaurant bill by a group that has ordered too much.

This is not about withholding; it’s about protecting our people and the future generations of Filipinos.

And really— who else would understand this tricky business better than all of you?

We may have walked different paths, endured different crises— but we were moved by the same stubborn faith: that responsible stewardship is not a technocratic exercise, but an act of service. Quiet, uncelebrated, and often thankless.

So to all of you here, allow me to thank you for the unpopular decisions that changed countless lives and made us a better nation.

The tough calls you made, once questioned, are now the very ground we build on.

Because if there is one thing this job teaches you, it is humility. It humbles you with its complexity and strips you of comfort.

You carry the burden— not for glory, but because someone must. And when you stand on the shoulders of those who came before— whose backs bore the weight of storms, you do not falter. You simply carry it better. And further.

So tonight, allow me to share a toast not just for this institution, but in honor of the power, the grit, and the grace that built it.

Isang karangalan po ang maihanay sa inyo.

Mabuhay po kayong lahat. Mabuhay ang Department of Finance. Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas.