LEADING THE BIR TOWARD THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Discover why BIR Commissioner Lilia Guillermo is considered a perfect
example of the kind of personnel the BIR is looking for: competent and
dedicated to public service.
By Godfrey T. Dancel
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RENJIE TOLENTINO
When you put one of the most powerful and dedicated women in the country in one of the most powerful
government agencies, you get the perfect combination to come up with quality service that the people deserve. Such is the case with Commissioner Lilia C. Guillermo leading the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Guillermo, an alumna of the University of the Philippines Diliman, knew early on that she wanted to go into public service. “I was a scholar in the University of the Philippines, so I told myself that I have to give back,” shares the Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Master of Science in Industrial Engineering graduate. And after over four decades of public service, she definitely has given back to the nation she feels indebted to.
LOOKING BACK
The commissioner’s educational background and her experience in other government agencies, like the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), have served her well as she handles the challenges at the BIR, this time as head of the agency.
“I was taken in from BIR [where I was already an undersecretary] to DBM because of my background, because they needed an undersecretary to handle the digital transformation at the DBM,” she shares about her stint as DBM undersecretary and chief information officer. “So I went to DBM and handled the modernization of the Public Finance Management Program, from revenue generation to expenditure.” Simply put, her .....