President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Dr. Eric Tayag as new undersecretary of the Department of Health and tax lawyer Romeo Lumagui Jr. as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
An infectious disease specialist, Tayag was previously DOH spokesman, an assistant secretary under the Aquino III administration, and most recently the head of the agency’s Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service.
Lumagui, on the other hand, took his oath on Tuesday, November 15. He previously served as deputy commissioner of the BIR before his latest appointment.
Also, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has administered the oath of Manuel Antonio Tamayo as Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Tamayo is a licensed pilot with 42 years of experience in the aviation industry, owing to his flying prowess with the Philippine Air Force (PAF) where he started his flying career. He graduated in 1975 from the PAF Flying School.
The Palace has yet to release the appointment papers of Tayag — known for dancing to promote the agency’s campaigns — as of press time, but DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed his new position in the agency.
“We received the transmittal of his appointment yesterday. He has not taken his oath yet. We are still scheduling [it]. So, he has not assumed the position yet,” she said.
Tayag’s duties as health undersecretary are still being discussed, Vergeire added.
According to the Palace, Lumagui was designated to various posts and functions, including technical assistant to the commissioner as well as tax fraud head for Revenue Region No. 6, Manila; Revenue Region No. 4, Pampanga; and Revenue Region No. 7B, East NCR.
Lumagui was also assigned to the project management and implementation service, which develops and oversees the implementation of the overall reform or modernization program of the BIR.
He 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 totalled P792.56 million – both in just one year.
Prior to his CAAP stint, Tamayo was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte as Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports under the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
As undersecretary for aviation, he participated and worked towards the launch and completion of 217 airport development projects.
Under the administration of President Marcos Jr., CAAP is programmed to upgrade more airports in the country.
Tamayo said the agency intends to continue its efforts to enable more airports to be capable of night-time take-off and landing to allow more flights and longer operating hours in regional airports.
During his first State of the Nation Address on July 25, Mr. Marcos made a promise to upgrade airports and create more international airports to boost the tourism industry.
Tamayo said in line with the government’s vision for the enhancement of the aviation sector, CAAP has completed the night rating of 23 major and commercial airports, with 11 airports being successfully night-rated in the last six years.
Equipping airports with night-rating capabilities will allow the facilities to accommodate flights even after sunset, which will help provide air travelers with flight options.
Before, several domestic flights departing Manila are being crammed during the daytime because of the inability of many provincial airports to receive flights at night, contributing to the jamming of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which has only two runways handling both international and domestic flights.
Provincial airports then unable to operate at night also must send out all their Manila-bound flights during the day.
