PhilHealth elects new president and CEO

THE Board of Directors of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has unanimously elected lawyer Alexander A. Padilla as PhilHealth president and chief executive officer.

In its recent meeting, the Board elected Padilla who was earlier given a Board seat representing the Employer Sector and at the same time nominated by President Benigno Aquino III to the highest executive position in the state-run health insurance agency.

Since 2010, Padilla served as PhilHealth’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. He took the reins from Health Secretary and PhilHealth Board Chair Dr. Enrique Ona who served as officer-in-charge of the Corporation from January to June this year.

The move was seen to further boost the implementation of Universal Health Care or Kalusugang Pangkalahatan where PhilHealth plays a vital role as provider of financial risk protection through social health insurance.

“With Alex Padilla at the helm of PhilHealth, we are assured of continued reforms to make sure that the Corporation achieves its mandate—that all Filipinos are provided with affordable, adequate, available and accessible health care, financed through a sustainable National Health Insurance Program,” said Ona of Padilla’s election.

Padilla graduated cum laude from De La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History major in Political Science and minor in Philosophy. He was president of the UP law student government and chair of the Students Rights and Welfare Party (STRAW). He finished eighth of Batch 1981 and passed the Bar of the same year.

Before joining PhilHealth, he served in different capacities—Undersecretary at the Department of Health, Senior State Prosecutor at the Department of Justice, Special Prosecutor at the Office of the Ombudsman, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Interior and Local Government, Commissioner at the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, among others.