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UP fetes alumni appointed to lead PH health care

| Written by Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc

“We both share the love for public health. We both believe that medicine should not be limited to treating patients, but should go beyond, into the communities, looking at systems, making sure that health [care] goes to those who most need it.” — National Scientist Carmencita Padilla on Health Secretary Edwin Mercado. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.

The University of the Philippines and Cardinal Santos Medical Center hosted a testimonial dinner for UP health experts recently appointed to top positions in the Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Food and Drug Administration. The event was held Oct. 21 at the Executive House, UP Diliman.

 

Heading the honorees was DOH Secretary Edwin Mercado (BS Zoology, cum laude, UPD; MD, UP Manila; orthopedic residency, UP-Philippine General Hospital). Testimonials were also delivered for PhilHealth Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Beverly Lorraine Ho (BS Biology graduate, UPD; MD, UPM) and FDA Director General Margarita M. Gutierrez (BS Industrial Pharmacy, Master of Health Professions Education, UPM), who is also an associate professor at the College of Pharmacy in UPM.

 

Other recent DOH appointees from UPM included Undersecretary Jose Tecson III, former Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development; Undersecretary Lorra Angelia Sayson-Garcia, adjunct faculty member at the College of Public Health; and Assistant Secretary Diana Tamondong-Lachica, associate professor at the College of Medicine. 

 

With the appointments, UP Regent Raul Pagdanganan, CSMC president and CEO, spoke of a “pivotal moment for Philippine health care.” 

 

“This historic alignment of the Department of Health, PhilHealth, and FDA signals a new era: one health system, one road map. Our health care system has long struggled with fragmentation. Now this united approach aims to bridge gaps, integrating all parts of the system into one seamless whole,” Pagdanganan stated.

View scenes from the event below:
Health Secretary Edwin Mercado says he initially declined the Secretary post, but thought, “Baka may pagkakataon ding ayusin ang sistema sa DOH. Nakikita namin, hindi gagalaw ang ating health system kung hindi aligned ang PhilHealth at ang DOH.” (Maybe this is an opportunity to fix DOH’s system. Our health system will not progress if DOH and PhilHealth are not aligned.) Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
Health Secretary Edwin Mercado says he initially declined the Secretary post, but thought, “Baka may pagkakataon ding ayusin ang sistema sa DOH. Nakikita namin, hindi gagalaw ang ating health system kung hindi aligned ang PhilHealth at ang DOH.” (Maybe this is an opportunity to fix DOH’s system. Our health system will not progress if DOH and PhilHealth are not aligned.) Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
“We had to build our critical mass–because that’s the only way health reforms will move.” — Acting PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho on reform implementation at PhilHealth and DOH. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
“We had to build our critical mass–because that’s the only way health reforms will move.” — Acting PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho on reform implementation at PhilHealth and DOH. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
“This is the time that I can give my very best to make a difference, especially for an organization that was partly built by my parents. Thirty-five years in service po silang pareho.” — Food and Drug Administration Director General Margarita M. Gutierrez on her appointment. Her father, Dr. Oscar Gutierrez, was former officer-in-charge and deputy director general of FDA, while her mother, Maria Theresa Maclan Gutierrez, was former OIC of the FDA Center for Cosmetics Regulation and Research. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
“This is the time that I can give my very best to make a difference, especially for an organization that was partly built by my parents. Thirty-five years in service po silang pareho.” — Food and Drug Administration Director General Margarita M. Gutierrez on her appointment. Her father, Dr. Oscar Gutierrez, was former officer-in-charge and deputy director general of FDA, while her mother, Maria Theresa Maclan Gutierrez, was former OIC of the FDA Center for Cosmetics Regulation and Research. Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
UP President Angelo Jimenez leads a toast to the newly-appointed officials of the Philippine health system, “We have a chance today to renew our commitment to history: UP for the next 1,000 years. Cheers!” Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
UP President Angelo Jimenez leads a toast to the newly-appointed officials of the Philippine health system, “We have a chance today to renew our commitment to history: UP for the next 1,000 years. Cheers!” Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
UP Regent Raul Pagdanganan, president and CEO of Cardinal Santos Medical Center, welcomes guests to the testimonial program for alumni recently appointed to lead Philippine health care agencies, calling their appointment “a pivotal moment for Philippine health care.” Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.
UP Regent Raul Pagdanganan, president and CEO of Cardinal Santos Medical Center, welcomes guests to the testimonial program for alumni recently appointed to lead Philippine health care agencies, calling their appointment “a pivotal moment for Philippine health care.” Photo by Jonathan Madrid, UPS-MCO.

UP President Angelo Jimenez rallied the UP community to support fellows signed up by the government.

 

“If one of us is standing out there in the trenches exposing themselves to the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’, let us band together and support them. That is the all-of-UP approach. We have to move as one united community.”

UP Manila Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Bernadette Heizel Manapat-Reyes delivers a testimonial for FDA Director General Margarita M. Gutierrez, whom she worked with on UPM committees: “You could see that Meg is unrelenting, very agile, and an out-of-the-box problem solver.” Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
UP-Bonifacio Global City Executive Director Leo Cubillan, also a doctor, says he spoke with those who worked closely with PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho, who attested to her ability to rally people around a cause. Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.
Newly appointed Health Undersecretary Lorra Angelia Sayson-Garcia delivers a testimonial for Health Secretary Edwin Mercado, “Salamat po, Doc, hindi lamang dahil sa mga tinuturo ninyo, kundi sa pagpapakita kung paano maging mabuting tao habang nagiging magaling. Kaya narito po kami, iskolar, lumalaban, patuloy, kasama ninyo.” (Thank you, Doc, not only for what you teach, but for showing us how to remain a good person while pursuing excellence. That is why we are here, scholars, fighting, continuing, with you.) Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.

Mercado and Ho earlier spoke of how UP helps them in government.

 

Mercado asked for the university’s assistance in the validation of DOH initiatives, advice on what else the department needs to do, and “also to advocate our budgets, and support [us] in terms of what should be done to mitigate abuse, fraud, wastage and to reach more Filipinos.” 

 

Ho said working in the public sector is “always unpredictable and not easy, but it’s doable because of the community: both the team that we have and the broader UP community. Just always going back to this community for help makes the seemingly impossible work possible.” She added that there are still many things they will ask of UP in their remaining 20 months in office because a lot remains to be done, and “we need everyone to band together.”

 

Gutierrez, who was just capping her third day at FDA, outlined her plan. “My flagship project for FDA will be called FDA RESET: Regulatory Efficiency through Systems, Empowerment, and Transformation. My lofty goal is to reset all backlogs in FDA, and it can be done.”

The honorees, DOH Secretary Edwin Mercado (first row, left of center), PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho (first row, right of center), FDA Director General Margarita M. Gutierrez (second row, second from left), DOH Undersecretary Jose Tecson III (last row, third from right), Undersecretary Lorra Angelia Sayson-Garcia (last row, second from right), and Assistant Secretary Diana Tamondong Lachica (last row, fifth from left) pose for a photo with National Scientist Carmencita Padilla (first row, sixth from right) and university officials led by Commission on Higher Education and UP Board of Regents Chairperson Shirley Agrupis (Mercado’s right) and UP President Angelo Jimenez (Gutierrez’s right). Photo by Bong Arboleda, UPS-MCO.