Senator Juan Edgardo Angara has urged accountants and auditors to increase their contribution to economic growth by promoting financial transparency and helping the government collect the right taxes.
Speaking at the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants Metro Manila Region Tax Conference 2019 held in Mandaluyong City, Angara said that certified public accountants (CPAs) had an important role to play in sustaining the economic momentum the Philippines had achieved in the last 10 years.
“For financial transparency isn’t just about being truthful. It’s about being smart. It’s about making well-informed, data-driven decisions and who are better equipped to help in this effort than the number-crunchers among us?” Angara said.
Angara noted that the Philippines was able to sustain close to a decade’s worth of continuous economic growth and during the period, he said, the country generated “momentum and fiscal space to finally break free from decades of chronic poverty.”
For the country to reach higher plane of development, Angara said it had to make smarter decisions and the right investments in the right places, which would definitely require the expertise of CPAs.
“We will need to have a proper assessment—an accurate balance sheet showing our assets and liabilities—of where we stand as a nation and accountants can contribute in this regard,” Angara said.
The lawmaker also exhorted the CPAs to work towards bringing their clients to the path of honesty, rather than helping them avoid paying the right taxes.
