A former ranking Department of Finance (DOF) official who had spearheaded the agency's anti-graft and corruption as well as tax-evasion enforcement arms shall take the reins as the new president of the big business group Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) next year.
Lawyer Emmanuel "Noel" P. Bonoan would take over from this year's MAP president Jose Rene Gregory D. Almendras. He will be MAP's 77th president.
Bonoan is currently vice chair, chief operating officer (CEO) and advisory head at KPMG R.G. Manabat and Co., where he had "played a key role in the leadership overhaul and expansion, growing it from 250 to approximately 2,000 employees and establishing it as one of the leading audit, tax and advisory firms in the Philippines," MAP noted in a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
MAP cited that Bonoan had "a distinguished career as a senior executive in both public and private sectors" as he had "led diverse teams to achieve significant strategic and growth objectives."
Bonoan had served at the DOF, initially as an assistant to the Finance Secretary. He had moved up to become a DOF assistant secretary, and then undersecretary, before he resigned in 2005, supposedly due to health reasons back then.
He had also headed the DOF's revenue integrity protection service (RIPS) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) run after tax evaders (RATE) programs, such that then-senator and now Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto during that time asked then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to convince Bonoan to stay in government service.
"He managed high-profile initiatives to improve internal revenue collections. He led a team that proposed amendments to the country's VAT [value-added tax] Law, worked with Congress for their passage into law, and successfully defended the law's constitutionality before the Supreme Court. He also established enforcement programs that, to this day, are recognized as critical to the effective implementation of tax reform and administration," MAP noted.
"He is deeply committed to fostering innovation, championing technology-enabled strategies, and advancing sustainable progress. He is focused on shaping the future of management practices by driving transformative leadership and contributing to a more dynamic and technology-driven Philippines," MAP added.
Bonoan had garnered silver-medal honors from Ateneo de Manila University's School of Law, where he had obtained his Juris Doctor degree. He had finished his Master of Laws in International Economic Law from University of Warwick in the UK.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Bonoan also finished the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2019.
Besides Bonoan, MAP's 2025 board of governors also include Metro Pacific Investments Corp.'s (MPIC) Michael T. Toledo (vice president); SGV and Co.'s Wilson P. Tan (treasurer); Almendras; AC Health's Paolo Borromeo; Center for Excellence in Governance's Rex C. Drilon II; CEO Advisors Inc.'s Marianne "Maan" B. Hontiveros; GT Capital Holdings Inc.'s Gil B. Genio; as well as PLDT Inc.'s Alfredo S. Panlilio.