BULACAN, Philippines – With the growing interest for social enterpreneurship in the Philippines, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said it can only be sustained if entrepreneurs never lose sight of their responsibilities.

“Entrepreneurs take responsibility as members of society and as members of the country,” Purisima said on Friday, October 3, at the second day of Gawad Kalinga’s 2nd Social Business Summit.

He said taking responsibility for the country means accepting that it will take a lot of investment before seeing meaningful results. One way entrepreneurs can invest in their country is through paying their taxes.

“There is a paradox to not paying taxes…By being irresponsible to community and country, you are being irresponsible to yourself,” Purisima added.

He lamented that only 10% of the country’s total income tax collection comes from self-employed professionals (SEPs), and out of 1.8 million SEPs working in the Philippines, only about 400,000 of them pay taxes.

“If you start as an entrepreneur, you must remember: responsibility is the key to sustainability,” the finance chief added.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said people can contribute to nation-building by paying their taxes.

“If we look at it that way, it should be palatable and enjoyable to pay our taxes,” she said, noting that an entrepreneur must be a taxpayer in order to grow his or her business.

Known for her fearless, all-out campaign against tax evaders, Henares also told the audience not to fear the audits of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) since all businesses will go through auditing “once in their lifetime.”

“Ang BIR ay nandito para rin magbigay ng serbisyo, maliban sa pangongolekta ng buwis (The BIR is here not only to collect taxes but also to render services),” she explained.

With a country so blessed, Purisima said Filipinos going into business must be risk-takers – confident in their business, government, and self, as well as patient to see the fruits of their labor.

“If we as a culture look at risk as something we should avoid, we won’t be able to attain the potential of this country,” he added. – Rappler.com

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• ‘Walang iwanan’ economy: Bridging markets, communities
• How to #EndPoverty? Develop state universities

Follow Rappler’s live blog of Gawad Kalinga’s Social Business Summit here.