Business leader Alan Ortiz dies in Paris

Alan Ortiz—business leader, avid biker and former civil servant —passed away on Monday in a hospital in Paris due to complications from COVID-19. He was 66. “Dr Alan T. Ortiz—our dearest Alan, beloved father, Kuya to his family, and indulgent Lolo—passed away in the early morning of March 23 due to complications from COVID-19,” the Ortiz family announced. Ortiz had fallen ill while traveling overseas and was hospitalized for weeks at Hospital Saint-Luis in Paris. He was in Paris at the invitation of the IHEDN (Institut des hautes etudes de defense nationale) for a discussion on national security. Ortiz, the president of nonprofit Philippine Council for Foreign Relations, was formerly the president of SMC Global Power and National Transmission Corp. He had also served the government as assistant director general of the National Security Council, and vice chair and chief operating officer of the Development Bank of the Philippines. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla