About the Author

She handled typical public finance issues relating to deficit and debt management focusing on revenue forecasting and tax reforms. She became focal person of the PH-Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives in 2013.

At her retirement, she was appointed chancellor of the Local Government Finance Institute of the Philippine Tax Academy whose main mandate is training of revenue personnel.

When not engaged in course development, she is busy pitting wits against her four young grandkids and enjoying K-drama binges.

Latest from the Author

4 Jul 2025

7:42AM

INSIDER VIEW: Till debt do us part?

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

As of the end of April 2025, the national government’s debt had climbed to P16.75 trillion—that’s 11.6 percent higher than the level during the same period in 2024.

9 Apr 2025

8:38AM

INSIDER VIEW | On transparency and accountability in government: We should know where our taxes go

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

The areas where the government most needs transparency are in the release of government statistics and in the conduct of project evaluation and project execution. Bidding for public projects requires a lot of transparency, and so do procurement policies and practices.

20 Jan 2025

7:00AM

INSIDER VIEW: On health care access or none

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

I had wondered how much better the health care access of the ordinary Filipino family is now under UHC but judging from the story of the father begging for financial support from complete strangers, it seems we still have a long way to go.

20 Nov 2024

9:06AM

INSIDER VIEW: Pawnshops and life after disasters

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

Growing up, I would hear stories from the adults in the family about someone or other pawning a land title or heirloom jewelry in times of need or emergency.

11 Nov 2024

10:17AM

INSIDER VIEW: Of candidates and promises, promises

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

From a fiscal perspective, candidates for government positions should at least understand how a national budget is prepared, and for that they should at least understand basic arithmetic.

23 Sep 2024

6:34AM

INSIDER VIEW: Airport fantasies

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

When we are talking of new airports or refurbishing NAIA, we need to discuss more than the size of the airports or the runway configurations - we also need to think about how to efficiently transfer people from one terminal to another, and from the terminals to various points in the metropolis.

19 Aug 2024

7:16AM

INSIDER VIEW: Our budget conundrum for ‘protecting the people, securing the state’

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

When talking of the budget for the military and other uniformed personnel, it is high time to talk about their pension system, which is afflicted by a critical illness slowly but surely endangering the overall fiscal health of the government. Critical reforms are urgently needed.

10 Jun 2024

7:00AM

INSIDER VIEW: The wisdom of the poor as a guide to policymaking

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

Following the advice of policy experts and high profile personalities is easy. Adopting inputs of the underprivileged when making economic decisions is more difficult... but perhaps just as important, argues our fiscal expert.

24 May 2024

9:16AM

INSIDER VIEW: I have a dream, a public transportation dream

By: Ma. Teresa S. Habitan

A fiscal policy expert takes a look at what an ideal public and private transportation system for the clogged metropolis should like like.