MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reshuffled the heads of the government’s top two revenue agencies, his third major leadership shakeup of these Department of Finance (DOF) offices since assuming the presidency in mid-2022.
In a statement on Thursday, November 12, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Charlito Mendoza confirmed that he is moving to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) replacing Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno.
“I look forward to working with the men and women of the BOC to carry out the priorities of President Marcos Jr. and [Finance] Secretary [Frederick] Go — strengthening border protection, sustaining revenue collection, and facilitating legitimate trade. We have important work ahead of us, and I am ready to get started,” he said.
Mendoza held the top BIR post for a year after Marcos appointed him on November 13, 2025.
The BIR continues to face complaints about corruption. Last September, a Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) officer testified before a Senate committee on trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship that BIR examiners were still extorting businesses via letters of authority (LOAs) and asking for illicit deals in exchange for tax settlements. Prior to that exposé, the BIR had vowed reforms in the LOA system. (READ: [Ask the Tax Whiz] Why is the BIR auditing your business?)
Must Read BIR suspends field audits amid calls to probe alleged extortion scheme
Finance Undersecretary Rolando Ligon Jr. replaces Mendoza in the BIR. As undersecretary, Ligon supervised the BIR and the Customs bureau. Ligon is the third BIR chief under the Marcos administration. Romeo Lumagui Jr. was Marcos’ first BIR commissioner and served from July 2022 to November 2025.
Ligon, more specifically, was the supervising finance undersecretary that handled the DOF’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service or RIPS. RIPS is officially described as the “anti-corruption arm of the DOF,” which investigates allegations of corruption in the BIR, Customs, and other finance-attached offices. If warranted, RIPS then files charges against erring public servants.
Ligon was a tax lawyer for the Campos, Canobas, Sy, Selva, Ligon & Dato Law from 2018 to 2025, and is a part-time professor for law on taxation at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, according to his LinkedIn account.
PORT CONGESTION. Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno and other officials join a meeting led by Finance Secretary Frederick Go on addressing port congestion and other stakeholder concerns, on November 11, 2026. Photo courtesy of Department of Finance FB
From the Customs bureau, Nepomuceno will now head the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), replacing its president and CEO Joshua Bingcang.
Bingcang, an engineer, is moving to the Philippine Export Zone Authority or PEZA, the country’s second largest investment promotion agency, Secretary Go announced on Thursday.
Nepomuceno was appointed Customs chief only in June 2025. This new post marks his third under the Marcos administration. He has been trying to address complaints from the business community about port congestion, which is delaying the release of goods, particulary in the port of Manila.
According to the DOF, among the agreed measures in a meeting this week are the expansion of container-yard capacity and faster withdrawal of overstaying laden containers. The Customs bureau reported that 45% of these containers had been cleared as of Monday, November 9.
Prior to being Customs chief, Nepomuceno served as administrator of the Office of Civil Defense under the Department of National Defense from December 2022 to June 2025. He held various posts in the Customs bureau during the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
The BCDA has been in the news lately as the Marcos administration does the finishing touches to the framework agreement on Pax Silica, expected to be signed by end of 2026, according to a trade senior official. – Rappler.com
Must Read Pax Silica signing eyed by year-end, not during ASEAN Summit – DTI