BBM names 3 more appointees

(File Photos: Department of Budget and Management/Website; Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC)/Facebook)

MANILA – President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has named the head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and two other nominees for the top posts in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) who will serve under his administration.

In a press statement, Press Secretary-designate Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Marcos nominated retired Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy director, General Ricardo de Leon, as NICA Director General-designate.

De Leon, as NICA chief, will become part of Marcos’ security cluster, joining other officials from the departments of Defense, Local Government, Foreign Affairs, and Justice; the Armed Forces of the Philippines; the PNP; and the National Bureau of Investigation, Cruz-Angeles said.

De Leon is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Matatag” Class of 1971.

He currently serves as the president of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), which serves as the premier educational institution for the training, human resource development, and continuing education of all police, fire, and jail personnel.

Meantime, former BIR deputy commissioner Lilia Guillermo has been tapped to lead the country’s leading tax collection agency, Cruz-Angeles said.

Cruz-Angeles said Guillermo’s track record makes her qualified to serve as BIR Commissioner-designate.

“Guillermo’s strong background in Information Technology (IT) and her almost four decades of service at the BIR complements President-elect Marcos’ objective of boosting the country’s revenue through efficient tax collection,” she said.

Guillermo is cited for the successful implementation of the Philippines Tax Computerization Project, which established a modern tax collection system for the BIR and the Bureau of Customs.

Guillermo currently serves as an assistant governor at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

She also heads the BSP Technology and Digital Innovation Office and manages the BSP’s IT Modernization Roadmap for 2018-2033.

Cruz-Angeles said Guillermo will be joined by Lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr. who will serve as the BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations-designate under the Marcos administration.

Lumagui, Cruz-Angeles said, is a tax lawyer “with decades of experience who once served as the Regional Investigation Division Chief of Revenue Region No. 7B East NCR.”

On Thursday, Marcos also named former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, outgoing Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, and retired AFP chief Jose Faustino Jr. as his new appointees in his Cabinet.

Enrile will serve as Marcos’ Presidential Legal Counsel, Guevarra as Solicitor General, and Faustino as Officer-in-Charge of the defense department.