President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named Department of Finance Undersecretary Charlito Martin Mendoza as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), replacing tax lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr., the Presidential Communications Office said late Wednesday.
No reason was immediately given for the change, which comes after Lumagui, who served for three years, reportedly suggested the agency might miss its P3.219-trillion collection target for 2025.
Mendoza, who has been Department of Finance Undersecretary for the Revenue Operations Group overseeing the BIR and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), will take the helm of the country’s primary tax collection agency.
The announcement was made by Presidential Communications Office acting Secretary Dave Gomez. The BIR could not immediately confirm the report but acknowledged Gomez’s statement.
Prior to his role at the Department of Finance, Mendoza served as district collector for the BOC Port of Cebu, where he was credited with achieving record-breaking revenue collection and significant border protection milestones.
The replacement of Lumagui also follows a major revamp he ordered a day earlier, which included appointing Southern Metro Manila regional director Edgar Tolentino as the new head of the Large Taxpayers Service (LTS).
Mendoza is a founding partner of the Palafox Patriarca Romero and Mendoza law firm.
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