Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 15) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. appointed tax lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr. as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
In a statement, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said Lumagui took his oath on Tuesday. Prior to his new appointment, he was deputy commissioner of the agency.
The OPS added that Lumagui was previously assigned to a number of positions and duties, including technical assistant to the commissioner and head of tax fraud for Revenue Region No. 6, Manila; No. 4, Pampanga; and No. 7B, East NCR.
The tax attorney was also entrusted with project management and implementation service, which develops and manages the BIR’s entire modernization or reform program, according to the OPS.
“Lumagui headed several task forces to boost collections, such as the Assets Recovery Task Force, where total collections amounted to ₱833.69 million, and the Task Force on Direct Selling/Multi-Level Marketing and Investment Scams, where assessments totaled ₱792.56 million both in just a span of around one year,” the OPS stated.
Lumagui replaced Lilia Guillermo as head of the BIR, which is in charge of bringing in taxes for the government. Guillermo was named BIR chief when Marcos was still president-elect.
Malacañang did not say what will happen to Guillermo, who told CNN Philippines in June that she will review the estate tax supposedly owed by the Marcoses and try to collect it if the court’s decision is final and executory.
She also said she would ask Marcos to be a role model in complying with the rules of taxation.
The Supreme Court on June 5, 1997 ordered the Marcos heirs to pay ₱23 billion in estate taxes. The order became final and executory on March 9, 1999, and the total amount is estimated to have ballooned to ₱203 billion due to penalties and surcharges.
