Leonor "Liling" Mirasol Magtolis-Briones (; born October 16, 1940) is a

Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

academician, economist, and civil servant who served as

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

under the Duterte administration. She is also professor emeritus of public administration at the National College of Public Administration & Governance (NCPAG) of the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

and was chairman of the board of directors of

Silliman University Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private research university in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, the Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, it is ...

Dumaguete City Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; fil, Lungsod ng Dumaguete), is a 3rd income class component city and the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a p ...

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...

. She is a former Presidential Adviser for Social Development under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, 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

Leonor Briones was born as Leonor Mirasol Magtolis in

Guihulngan Guihulngan, officially the City of Guihulngan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Guihulngan; fil, Lungsod ng Guihulngan), is a 5th class component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 102,6 ...

, 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 Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree with a major in accounting from

in 1958 and her Master of Public Administration degree with a major in local government and fiscal administration from the

in 1967."Leonor Briones"
Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved April 22, 2011. In 1968, she acquired her post-graduate diploma, with honors, at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 The Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) was a think-tank dedicated to helping nations join the global economy, operating between 1974 and 2000. It was a center within Harvard University, United States. Foundation and leadership ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. She received her Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) in Public Administration from

Central Philippine University The Central Philippine University (also referred to as Central or CPU) is a private research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a benevolent grant of the American industrialist and philanthropist, John D. Roc ...

in 2016, the sister school of

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 The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives ...

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

and the

United Nations Development Program The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

, 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

, and vice-president for finance in the same university. Briones was also active in the private sector, serving as director of AgriNurture, Inc., an office she held since 2008 and as an independent director of Megawide Construction Corp. since July 19, 2010. She also served as chairman of the board of trustees of

. In 2010, Briones was nominated for the Presidency of the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

but fell short of getting a majority vote from the university's

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...

. On May 28, 2016, then president-elect Rodrigo Duterte offered Briones the

post, which she formally accepted on June 7, 2016. She took office on June 30, 2016. She oversaw the continuation of the K-12 program implementation which began in 2012, and during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, shifting from physical, face-to-face classes to a

blended learning Norm Friesen (born March 21, 1966) is Professor in Educational Technology at Boise State University. Norm Friesen studied German Literature, Secondary Education, and Communication at the Johns Hopkins University, University of Alberta and Simon Fr ...

approach due to travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease. After her stint as the education secretary ended, her successor, Sara Duterte, appointed her as a consultant.

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 The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

where she appealed to the member-nations of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

to fulfill their promises in fighting poverty. In 2011, she was one of the few individuals who received the prestigious Bayi Citation Award for Government Service."Former RP national treasurer receives prestigious award for women leaders"
Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved April 22, 2011.

Professor emeritus conferment

The University of the Philippines's Board of Regents (BOR), the national university's highest policy-making body, formally conferred upon Briones in 2012 the rank of professor emeritus of public administration. Currently, she is the only living professor emeritus of the

National College of Public Administration and Governance National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

References

External links

Secretary Briones
on

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Secretary Briones
on

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(official)
Leonor Briones
on

Bureau of Treasury Official Website
(archived)
National College of Public Administration & Governance Official WebsiteDepartment of Education Official Website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Briones, Leonor 1940 births 20th-century Filipino economists Filipino civil servants Living people Secretaries of Education of the Philippines Advisers to the President of the Philippines University of the Philippines faculty People from Negros Oriental Silliman University alumni University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Duterte administration cabinet members Estrada administration personnel Women members of the Cabinet of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino women politicians 20th-century Filipino politicians 21st-century Filipino women politicians 21st-century Filipino politicians Harvard Institute for International Development