Niño Raymond B. Alvina

Niño Raymond B. AlvinaNiño Raymond B. Alvina heads the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) of the Department of Finance (DOF), which supervises the revenue operations of all local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines.

As a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, he will pursue his program in Public Policy Analysis and Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, New York. He intends to learn and acquire new knowledge and skills in designing and implementing fiscal decentralization policies and innovative models in local finance.

Niño’s interest in LGUs started in 2005 when he joined a project team in the DOF that developed a case book on best practices in local financial management, and another project on property valuation and taxation reforms under the Land Administration and Management Program from 2007 to 2012, where he served as project manager, development officer, and information, education and communications specialist. Later, he supported the BLGF in other local finance projects with the World Bank, AusAID, EU, and ADB from 2006 to 2014 in various technical and management capacities.

During his assignment in the Fiscal Intelligence Unit of the DOF’s Office of the Secretary from 2013 to 2014, he designed the local finance data transparency program and the fiscal sustainability scorecards and performance standards for LGUs, and led the professionalization and examination programs for local treasurers and assessors, as well as the improvements in the subnational debt policies and monitoring, as reform initiatives for the BLGF, which he continued to expand and institutionalize since 2016. Presently, he oversees the BLGF’s implementation with the ADB of the Local Governance Reform Project to improve real property tax administration in the country.

Niño holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the National College of Public Administration and Governance of the University of the Philippines – Diliman, and completed executive programs on fiscal decentralization from Sanford School of Public Policy of Duke University, and on metropolitan and urban finance from Marron Institute of Urban Management of New York University.

When he formally joined the government service in 2015, Niño became the first and the youngest director of the BLGF’s LGUs Operations Service, and eventually took the helm of the BLGF as the designated officer-in-charge in 2016, until his appointment in 2018 as its full-fledged Executive Director. He earned his Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) III rank last March 2022.

After his Humphrey Fellowship, he intends to continue his work in the government, establish executive education programs in local finance, broaden regional and international linkages on fiscal decentralization and local governance expertise, and pursue graduate studies and research in public administration and urban planning. Outside of work, Niño enjoys traveling and cooking.