MANILA: Philippines President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr has appointed a central bank official with expertise in information technology as the next chief of the tax agency, his office said today.
Marcos, set to be sworn in late this month after a landslide win in the May 9 election, inherits a large government debt fuelled by borrowing to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
His family faced billions of dollars of unpaid taxes and penalties from the tax collection agency.
He tapped Lilia Guillermo, an assistant governor now spearheading the central bank's drive to upgrade its information technology (IT) systems, to lead the Internal Revenue Bureau, where she was formerly a deputy commissioner.
Her strong IT background will help boost revenue through efficient tax collection, Marcos said.
His family had refused for years to pay a tax bill that media estimates put at US$3.9 billion, including penalties, with the tax agency sending it a letter of demand in March regarding the unpaid taxes.
Marcos continued to fill his cabinet with technocrats and former ministry officials ahead of his June 30 inauguration.
On Friday, he nominated a former military chief as the next defence minister, and selected as his chief legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, a 98-year-old politician who helped oust Marcos's father in a popular uprising in 1986. - REUTERS