BACKGROUND OF LEONOR BRIONES

Leonor “Liling” Mirasol Magtolis-Briones (born October 16, 1940) is a Filipino academic,
economist and civil servant who is the incumbent Secretary of Education of the
Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. She is also professor emeritus of public
administration at the National College of Public Administration & Governance (NCPAG)
of the University of the Philippines Diliman and was chairman of the board of directors
of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
She was a former Presidential Adviser for Social Development with the rank of
department secretary and was National Treasurer of the Philippines (head of the
Bureau of the Treasury) from August 1998 to February 2001.
Early life and education
Briones was born in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental on October 16, 1940. She was the
daughter of Carlos Magtolis, Sr., a school teacher, and Ursula Mirasol.
She obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in
accounting from Silliman University in 1958 and her Master of Public Administration
degree with a major in local government and fiscal administration from the University of
the Philippines Diliman in 1967.
In 1968, she acquired her post-graduate diploma, with honors, at Leeds University in
England. In 1984, she proceeded to complete further studies in the United States,
where she earned a certificate in Policy for Public Enterprise from the Harvard Institute
for International Development at Harvard University.
Career
Briones has served in various capacities. Her stints include teaching public fiscal
administration at the University of the Philippines; and serving as secretary to the
Commission on Audit for seven years, consultant to the Senate of the Philippines, Asian
Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program, lead convenor of
Social Watch Philippines, Inc., coordinator of Social Watch Asia, member of the
Coordinating Committee of Social Watch International, chair of the board of Focus on
the Global South, the first Filipino member of the Club of Rome, director for Policy and
Executive Development at the National College of Public Administration and
Governance at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and vice-president for finance
in the same university.
She also served as chairman of the board of trustees of Silliman University. In 2010,
Briones was nominated for the Presidency of the University of the Philippines but fell
short of getting a majority vote from the university’s Board of Regents.
Awards and distinctions
Briones is an Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee in the field of Fiscal and Public
Administration. In 2005, she addressed the UN General Assembly where she appealed
to the member-nations of the United Nations to fulfill their promises in fighting poverty.
In 2011, she was one of few individuals who received the prestigious Bayi Citation
Award for Government Service. She was awarded a Doctor of Humanities (Honoris
Causa) in Public Administration from Central Philippine University in 2016.