SBMA feud ends as Palace names Eisma chair, administrator

Lawyer Wilma Eisma INQUIRER.net file photo

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Malacañang on Tuesday appointed lawyer Wilma Eisma, administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), also as the agency’s chair, ending a leadership rift that had alarmed businessmen operating in this free port.

Eisma took her oath of office Tuesday morning as the new SBMA chairperson and administrator.

Eisma, whose appointment papers were signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on September 25, will hold her position until June 30, 2022.

Eisma’s appointment came after the issuance of Executive Order No. 42, which repealed EO 340 issued by former President Gloria Arroyo in 2004.

EO 340 fueled the dispute between Eisma and former SBMA Chair Martin Diño, who abandoned his presidential bid to give way to the candidacy of then Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 elections.

EO 340 split the powers and duties of the highest position in SBMA between the chairman of the board and the administrator.

However, the EO 42 that was signed by Duterte, consolidated these powers under the chair, Eisma, who took her oath of office before Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra at Malacañang.

“It’s a big job. I take this job seriously. More than the position, I’m really concentrating on what needs to be done,” Eisma said after her oathtaking.

/jpv