Leonor Briones


Leonor "Liling" Mirasol Magtolis-Briones is a Filipino academic, economist, and civil servant who is the incumbent Secretary of Education under President Rodrigo Duterte. She is also professor emeritus of public administration at the National College of Public Administration & Governance 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 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.
She received her Doctor of Humanities in Public Administration from Central Philippine University in 2016, the sister school of Silliman 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.
Prior to serving in the Rodrigo Duterte administration as Education secretary, she was 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.

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.

Professor emeritus conferment

The University of the Philippines's Board of Regents, 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 one of the two professor emeriti of the National College of Public Administration and Governance along with former UP president José Abueva. The rank of professor emeritus is a high distinction given to retired faculty members of the university by virtue of their contributions as intellectuals.

Personal life

On April 9, 2020, Briones disclosed that she tested positive for COVID-19. She is asymptomatic. The first test on March 13 had a negative result, while her second test on April 2 had a positive result. On April 13th, she was tested again and the result was negative.