DOF focuses on skills improvement of employees

The Department of Finance (DOF) under Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has continued to provide opportunities for its employees to further hone their skills and knowledge through various foreign and local scholarships, with the goal of further professionalizing its ranks and improving the delivery of services to the public.

Under Dominguez, 416 employees of the DOF and its attached agencies were able, or are now, pursuing their masteral or doctoral studies by availing of local scholarship programs, while another 250 were able to study overseas through foreign scholarship grants.

These foreign scholarships include those offered by the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, Japan; Seoul National University in South Korea; International Institute of Social Studies in The Netherlands; Australian National University in Canberra, Australia; Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education, and the Duke Center for International Development in the United States (US); and various universities in the United Kingdom (UK) through the Chevening Scholarship program.

Local scholarships availed by DOF employees include those offered by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati City; and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in Tagaytay and Pasig City, to name a few.

Majority of the scholars sent abroad under both the terms of Dominguez and his immediate predecessor, Secretary Cesar Purisima, came from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank).

A total of 352 local scholars and 168 foreign scholarship recipients were from LandBank under Dominguez, while Purisima’s term had 169 local and 198 foreign scholars from LandBank.

In the DOF, 14 employees were able to secure local scholarships, while 23 became foreign scholars so far under Dominguez. Fifteen DOF employees availed of local scholarships and 14 got foreign scholarships under Purisima.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent 20 employees abroad on foreign scholarships, while one availed of a local scholarship grant, under Dominguez. Three SEC employees became foreign scholars under Purisima, while no one availed of local scholarships.

From the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), there were 20 local and 15 foreign scholars under Dominguez, and 15 local and 9 foreign scholars under Purisima.

Under Dominguez, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) sent 12 employees abroad as foreign scholars and another 12 received local scholarships. There were 8 local and 1 foreign scholar from BTr under Purisima.

In the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), there were 9 local and 6 foreign scholars under Purisima while there were 8 foreign scholars and no local scholar under Dominguez.

There were no local scholars in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) during the terms of both Purisima and Dominguez. The BOC had 3 foreign scholars under Purisima and 2 so far under Dominguez.

The Insurance Commission (IC) had 4 local scholars and no foreign scholarship recipient under Purisima. It had 5 local and 1 foreign scholar under Dominguez.

No employee so far at the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) has availed of either a local or foreign scholarship under Dominguez but there were 2 local and 3 foreign scholars under Purisima.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) had 6 local scholars under Purisima and 5 so far under Dominguez. There were no foreign scholarship grantees from the PDIC in both administrations.

The Privatization and Management Office (PMO) has 1 local scholar so far under Dominguez and none under Purisima.

The National Tax Research Center (NTRC) had no local scholar but had 5 foreign scholars under Purisima and none so far under Dominguez.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) so far has 1 local scholarship recipient and 1 foreign scholar under Dominguez.

The Social Security System (SSS) had 1 foreign scholar under Purisima and 5 local scholars under Dominguez.

A total of 666 employees of the DOF and its attached agencies have thus far been able to pursue further academic studies under Dominguez.

This figure represents an almost 41-percent increase from the 471 employees who were granted or able to secure scholarships under the previous Aquino administration.