Marcos Jr. promotes Lumagui Jr. to BIR chief

MANILA, Philippines — Tax lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr. has been appointed by President Marcos as the new head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Malacañang announced yesterday.

Lumagui took his oath yesterday as BIR commissioner, replacing Lilia Catris Guillermo, who held the post since June this year.

Prior to his new appointment, Lumagui served as deputy commissioner for the BIR.

He held various posts and functions, such as technical assistant to the commissioner, and tax fraud head for Revenue Region No. 6, Manila; Revenue Region No. 4, Pampanga and Revenue Region No. 7B, East NCR.

He was part of the project management and implementation service, which develops and oversees the implementation of the overall reform or modernization program of the BIR.

Lumagui also headed several task forces to boost collections, such as the Assets Recovery Task Force, where total collections amounted to P833.69 million, and the Task Force on Direct Selling/Multi-Level Marketing and Investment Scams, where assessments totaled P792.56 million both in just a span of around one year.

It was not clear why Marcos replaced his BIR chief.

In June, Guillermo had committed to comply with the court’s decision regarding the estate tax issue of the Marcos family.

“I have not read the documents but if it’s already done from the Supreme Court that it’s final and executory and BIR has to do the collection, then we will collect,” Guillermo said in a previous interview with CNN Philippines.

The President, in an interview on ALLTV in September, said he wants the P203-billion estate tax case against his family to be reopened, saying their side was not heard when the matter was being litigated in the courts as they were in exile in the US.

Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii after the EDSA People Power revolution which overthrew his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

In 1997, the Supreme Court ordered the Marcos heirs to pay P23 billion in estate tax. The order became final and executory on March 9, 1999.

The Marcos estate tax assessment of P23 billion in 1991 has ballooned to an estimated P203 billion due to penalties and surcharges.

Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio had said the 1997 ruling of the high court on the Marcos estate tax case is “final and executory.”

Under Guillermo’s leadership, the BIR received commendation from the Civil Service Commission for landing in the third spot among 10 government agencies with the highest resolution rate on complaints handling for the period January to June 2022.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday confirmed the appointment of Dr. Eric Tayag as department undersecretary.

“We received the transmittal of his (Tayag) appointment yesterday (Monday). He has not taken his oath yet. We are still scheduling so he has not assumed the position yet,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire yesterday said at a press conference.

She added, “Discussion with other department officials is still ongoing as to where he can be assigned based on his capacity. In that way, he will be able to help the department more.”

In a phone interview, Tayag said, “I was caught by surprise after I received the appointment as undersecretary yesterday.”

Before his appointment, Tayag served as director of the agency’s Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service.

He also served as DOH Assistant Secretary from 2010 to 2015 under the Aquino administration.

Other posts he has held at the DOH are as its spokesman, head of the National Epidemiology Center and director of the Bureau of Local Health Systems Development.

As to the office of Health Undersecretary Camilo Cascolan, Vergeire said the latter already assumed office Monday.

The former Philippine National Police chief is performing purely operational and managerial functions as head of the Field Implementation Coordinating Team for the Visayas.

“Cascolan was assigned at the DOH’s Visayas Operations Office, particularly covering Regions 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas) and 8 (Eastern Visayas),” Vergeire said.

“I specifically instructed him to look into first, the vaccination coverage in the areas. Second, logistics management to conduct inventory of all our commodities, specifically COVID-19 vaccines,” the health official said.

She added, “I told him if he can devise or develop a mechanism or process wherein inventory of commodities in the three regions can be done on a faster pace which we plan to later adopt in other regions.”

“This is because based on his credentials, he had experience in procurement, logistics management during his time in his previous work,” Vergeire said.

Contrary to the claim of his critics, Cascolan said he could help the DOH considering his “managerial initiatives” to implement things, most especially in the field. – Rhodina Villanueva