President Rodrigo R. Duterte has approved the appointment of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III as ex-officio chairperson of the Governing Board of the Philippine Tax Academy (PTA).
The appointments of Commissioner Caesar Dulay of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero of the Bureau of Customs as ex-officio vice-chairpersons of the PTA Governing Board were likewise approved by the chief executive.
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said that despite the COVID-9 pandemic, the PTA has continued to provide training to 258 government employees by migrating the courses offered by the Academy online.
“The employees trained from April to June through the PTA’s e-learning system. They include 28 from the BIR, 152 from the BOC and 47 from the DOF,” Beltran said in his report to Dominguez.
Another batch of 31 employees from Customs was undergoing online PTA training as of the first week of September, he added.
Beltran, who is the DOF's chief economist and anti-red tape czar, said the PTA is also conducting its basic Integrity Education Program covering 79 BIR employees and a separate refresher and integrity education course for 2,000 Customs worker.
By the end of their PTA training, around 600 new BIR employees will be inducted into the service before the end of 2020, Beltran said.
Beltran said local government treasurers also continue to receive training online through the PTA’s e-learning system.
Under Republic Act (RA) 10143, the PTA “shall serve as a learning institution for tax collectors and administrators of the government and selected applicants from the private sector.”
This law provides that, “All existing officials and personnel of the BIR, the BOC and the BLGF (Bureau of Local Government Finance) shall be required to undergo the re-tooling and enhancement seminars and training programs to be conducted by the Philippine Tax Academy.”
It also requires “all applicants to the said bureaus” “to pass the basic courses before they can be hired whether on contractual or permanent status.”