Carlos "Sonny" García Domínguez III (born September 16, 1945) is a
Filipino businessman and former chief executive of
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...
who served as the
Secretary of Finance
The Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit ( es, Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) is the finance ministry of Mexico. The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the department, and is a member of the federal executive ...
under the
Duterte administration
Rodrigo Duterte became the 16th President of the Philippines on June 30, 2016, succeeding Benigno Aquino III. He was the first president from Mindanao, the first president to have worked in all three branches of government, and the oldest ...
. He had previously held the position of
Secretary of Agriculture
The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments.
The department includes several organ ...
and
Minister of Natural Resources under the
Corazon Aquino administration.
Prior to his appointment to President Duterte's Cabinet, he had served as executive director of PTFC Redevelopment Corp., as independent director of Alsons Consolidated Resources, and as director of United Paragon Mining Corp.
His family owns Marco Polo Hotel in
Davao City
Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land ...
, one of the top hotels in southern
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
.
Early life and education
Domínguez comes from a prominent
Zamboangueño family in
Davao City
Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land ...
. Born on September 16, 1945, in
Zamboanga, he is the son of Carlos Domínguez II and Virginia Ubeda García. His grandfather Carlos Domínguez Sr. was a pre-World War II manager of the
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in Zamboanga. He grew up in Davao and attended elementary and high school at the
Ateneo de Davao University
, mottoeng = Strong in Faith
, type = Private Catholic Research Non-profit Coeducational Basic and Higher education institution
, established =
, founder = Society of Jesus
, religious ...
where he was a classmate of President Rodrigo Duterte.
He moved to
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
for his college studies at the
Ateneo de Manila University
, mottoeng = Light in the Lord
, type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution
, established = December 10, 1859
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits)
, academic_aff ...
. Domínguez graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 1965 and received a Master of Business Administration from the same university in 1969. He also pursued post-graduate studies in California, U.S. where he completed the Executive Program from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
's Graduate School of Business in 1982.
Career and businesses
Earlier in his career, Domínguez joined the Bank of the Philippine Islands after finishing a short executive course from Stanford. He was President of the BPI Agricultural Development Bank for two years before being invited by President
Corazon Aquino
Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...
to join her new government. He assumed the leadership of the
Ministry of Natural Resources in 1986 and the
Department of Agriculture in 1987 while also serving as Director of the government-owned
Land Bank of the Philippines
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP; often referred to simply as LandBank), is a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen. While it provides the services of a universal bank, it ...
.
After leaving government service in 1989, Domínguez entered the tobacco, real estate, retail, mining and energy industries and served in various executive positions in companies such as the Retail Specialist, Inc., Philippine Tobacco Flue-Curing and Redrying Corp., Baesa Redevelopment Corp., Halifax Capital Resources, and United Paragon Mining Corp. He joined the
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...
in 1993 and served as its Chairman until 1995.
In his long business career after government, Domínguez also worked as Chairman and Director of
RCBC Capital Corp. (House of Investments) and President of Shangri-la Plaza Corp., Northern Mindanao Power Corp., Easycall Communications Philippines, Lafayette Philippines, Transnational Diversified Group, Central Azucarera Don Pedro and as Independent Director of Roxas Holdings. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Director of
Meralco
The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...
.
He was also recently involved in the
2016 presidential campaign
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
of his childhood friend and high school classmate Rodrigo Duterte as his fundraising and campaign finance manager.
Finance Secretary
Dominguez returned to government service on July 1, 2016, as he became President Duterte's
Secretary of Finance
The Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit ( es, Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) is the finance ministry of Mexico. The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the department, and is a member of the federal executive ...
, and serves as one of Duterte's economic managers in implementing the
DuterteNomics
DuterteNomics is a catch-all term referring to the socioeconomic policies of Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th president of the Philippines. A significant part of these policies include the development of infrastructure and industries in the Philippin ...
.
As Finance Secretary, Dominguez serves as a member of the Monetary Board of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...
, the Governor for the Philippines in the
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...
(ADB), the Governor for the Philippines at the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, and Alternate Governor for the Philippines at the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glob ...
. His post also makes him ex-officio Chairman of seven various government-owned institutions which are the
Land Bank of the Philippines
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP; often referred to simply as LandBank), is a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen. While it provides the services of a universal bank, it ...
, the
Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation ( fil, Korporasyon ng Segurong Deposito ng Pilipinas, abbreviated as PDIC) is a Philippine government-run deposit insurance fund. It was established on June 22, 1963, by Republic Act 3591. It guarant ...
(PDIC), the
Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency, the
National Power Corporation
The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of ...
(NAPOCOR/NPC), the Home Guaranty Corporation, the
National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).
Under Dominguez's leadership, the Philippines maintained strong investor and consumer confidence, and solid investment and credit grades from
Standard & Poor's
S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is cons ...
,
Moody's
Moody's Investors Service, often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody's Investors Service provides internationa ...
,
Fitch, the
Japan Credit Rating Agency. Dominguez led the administration's ten-point economic agenda promoting flexible measures, boosting government revenues, and advocating fiscal incentives and tax reform measures to attract and boost foreign investments and local jobs within the economy, which includes the passage and implementation of the
Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN Law), officially designated as Republic Act No. 10963, is the initial package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 19, 201 ...
(TRAIN) Law and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law.
Dominguez also led the application of the National ID System for fast identification and transactions,and the Personal Property Security Act (PSPA), as well as the tobacco tax reform bill and the Sin Tax Reform Law, which will be used for raise the government's health agendas, including the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, by increasing taxes on alcohol, tobacco cigarettes and vapes.
Dominguez also showed his support for the rice tariffication law, citing that the law boosted funds for the agricultural sector while cutting down prices of rice from an average of ₱49 to ₱39 per kilo.
Dominguez also helped fund the country's $170 Billion
Build! Build! Build!
The Build! Build! Build! Infrastructure Program (BBB) was the infrastructure program of the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th president of the Philippines. A key component of his socioeconomic policy, the program aimed to reduce po ...
Infrastructure Program through loans from other countries, such as
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...
,
China, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
, the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glob ...
, the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...
while increasing the government's infrastructure spending from 1-4% from 1993-2017 to over 6% in 2017.
Dominguez also oversaw the country's record low debt to GDP ratio of 39.6% in 2019, which was quickly overturned on 2020 and 2021, as the country's debts drew a dramatic sharp increase which reached 54.6% in 2020 and 60.5% of GDP in 2021, due to increased spending from the
COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a decrease of government revenues.
Dominguez continued making measures on combating climate change and also oversaw the renovation of the Department of Finance building in
Roxas Boulevard
Roxas Boulevard is a popular waterfront promenade in Metro Manila in the Philippines. The boulevard, which runs along the shores of Manila Bay, is well known for its sunsets and stretch of coconut trees. The divided roadway has become a tradem ...
, which features green initiatives, such as a modernized glass facade and sewage treatment facility.
Dominguez also persisted on making the Philippines in a more stable fiscal position by combating corruption and modernizing the country's online transactions, through the Ease of Doing Business Act to reduce red tape measures, and rehabilitating the
Bureau of Customs, which earned a total of ₱645.76 billion in 2021 while also expanding the country's estate tax amnesty for another two years.
Dominguez is also pursuing his plan of implementing higher taxes to increase the revenues set to be used to pay the country's debts, through the study of the
carbon tax
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more seve ...
, tax charges on cryptocurrencies, the removal of all dispensations from the current 12-percent value-added tax payments, as well as another rounds of excise taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, and sugary beverages.
Personal life
Domínguez is married to Cynthia "Ball" Andrews, the daughter of the late Col. Antonio Andrews of the PAF Flying School Class of 1949, and one of the pioneers of the
Philippine Air Force
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forc ...
. They have four children, Rafael, Mary Edwina, Ignacio and Xavier.
References
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominguez, Carlos III
1945 births
20th-century Filipino businesspeople
Filipino chairpersons of corporations
Living people
Secretaries of Finance of the Philippines
Secretaries of Agriculture of the Philippines
Secretaries of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines
People from Zamboanga City
People from Davao City
Ateneo de Manila University alumni
Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
Corazon Aquino administration cabinet members
Duterte administration cabinet members
21st-century Filipino businesspeople