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 grand tradition of Secretary’s Hour must be warned, never gather this many Finance Secretaries in one room—as it makes the current one slightly nervous.

Still, it is my greatest honor to be among giants tonight, a gathering of brilliant minds that, over the years, have held the nation’s purse with steel nerves.

A lot has happened since we all last met. Too much, perhaps. A lot of controversies, a lot of opinions. Part of the course, I suppose.

As if early on in my tenure, I was being given the full welcome package: a crash course in political firestorms and the art of explaining unpopular decisions in 30 seconds or less.

When we made the difficult, controversial, but fiscally necessary decision to return idle PhilHealth funds back to the Treasury, I took comfort in something more powerful than the usual uninformed clamor.

You, who once sat in this very hot seat, said nothing — and in doing so, said everything.

That meant more to me than you know.

Because while we may differ in approach, in what we tax and how we spend— we all know this truth: This is a brutal job. No applause. No perfect outcome. Only trade-offs and tough calls.

We lose sleep over figures. We debate over timing. We weigh every peso as if it were our last.

And 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.

Because progress cannot afford fiscal cowardice. Instead, it calls for sound, calculated tradeoffs, albeit unconventional, and oftentimes unpopular.

For responsible finance is not about withholding; it’s about protecting. Protecting the people from runaway inflation. From reckless borrowing. From populist temptations.

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 whose wisdom 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.