22 Facts About Cesar Purisima

Cesar Purisima was the Secretary of Finance of the Republic of the Philippines under the administration of President Benigno S Aquino III.

Cesar Purisima served as the chair of the Cabinet Economic Development Cluster and member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Cesar Purisima had previously been Secretary of Trade and Industry and then Secretary of Finance during the term of Aquino's predecessor President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but resigned amid the latter's involvement in the 2005 "Hello Garci scandal".

Cesar Purisima is one of the founding partners of Ikhlas Capital, an ASEAN private equity fund manager dedicated to partnering and growing companies that positively impact the development of the region, together with Nazir Razak, Kenny Kim and Gita Wirjawan.

Cesar Purisima earned his bachelor's degree in accountancy at De La Salle University and pursued an MBA with specialisation in international economics, finance, and marketing at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA.

Cesar Purisima held the post for 5 months until his resignation together with nine other Cabinet ministers, a group known as the "Hyatt 10" which include then-Education Secretary Florencio Abad, the late Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, and Secretary of Social Welfare and Development Corazon "Dinky" Soliman.

Together with members of the Hyatt 10, Cesar Purisima founded the International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance as a trustee.

Cesar Purisima was a key champion of the Sin Tax Reform Law passed in 2013, which as of October 2015 has already raised an additional P149.5 billion in incremental revenues from excise taxes on the consumption of tobacco and alcohol products, which are then poured into the Aquino administration's universal health care program.

Cesar Purisima helped President Aquino achieve a strong fiscal position for the Philippines by cracking down on corruption, plugging revenue leakages, and strengthening tax administration and enforcement capabilities.

Cesar Purisima advocated for greater transparency in the extractives industry, believing that increased accuracy between government and company-reported revenues would empower the public to better understand how extractives are contributing back to the local communities where they operate.

In institutionalizing an efficient turnover, Cesar Purisima simplified the agency's body of issuances by repealing 3,771 of its 4,323 outdated or incoherent department orders and collapsing 273 outdated committees from its 356 internal and interagency groups.

Cesar Purisima turned over a manual of key information and an economic data bank, as well as renovated the 5th and 6th floors of the agency's headquarters for the incoming Secretary's perusal.

Cesar Purisima is ex-officio Chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency, the National Power Corporation, the Home Guaranty Corporation, the National Transmission Corporation, and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation.

Cesar Purisima was instrumental in the Philippine hosting of the 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia in 2014.

Cesar Purisima chaired the inaugural meeting of the V20 in Lima, Peru, announcing a series of actions to foster greater investment in climate resiliency and low emissions development both in their home countries and internationally.

Cesar Purisima was first recognized by London-based financial news source Emerging Markets as 2011 Finance Minister of the Year for Asia for his strong policy track record and steadfast commitment to maintaining economic stability.

Cesar Purisima was the choice of Emerging Markets for 2013 Finance Minister of the Year for Asia for his success in steering an economic policy that has led to upgrades in the Philippines' credit rating to investment grade.

Cesar Purisima's record of 7 consecutive awards is a first in the history of the Republic of the Philippines.

Cesar Purisima was the Alumni Merit Awardee for the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in the 2014 Northwestern Alumni University Awards, making him the first Filipino awardee from Kellogg and among the first Filipinos to receive such a distinction from the university.

Cesar Purisima was named Fellow of the Eminent Southeast Asians Programme of the Singapore International Foundation in 2003.

Cesar Purisima was conferred Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa, by the Angeles University.

On 24 June 2016, Cesar Purisima was awarded the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Grand Cross by President Aquino for his contributions in driving the Philippine turnaround story.