DR. PAULYN JEAN B.

ROSELL-UBIAL

Dr. Rosell-Ubial has served public office for 27 years and has been under 13 health secretaries.
She literally rose from the ranks, starting from volunteer health worker in Kidapawan, up to the
position of Assistant Secretary and Deputy Head for the office of health regulations. Her vast
experience in the country’s health conditions have led her to be a leader and champion of
“Kalusugang Pangkalahatan”, with advocacies in mentalhealth, women and children’s health,
and tobacco control, amongothers.

Her extensive career in the Department of Health has led her to numerous notable designations,
such the founding program manager of the “Sentrong Sigla” movement, the quality assurance
program of the DOH, and the founding manager of the Women’s Health and Development
program in the DOH. With her expertise in Women’s Health, she was also named as the DOH
Gender and Development focalperson.

Additionally, she gained prominence as the chairperson of the Red Orchid Awards, or the search
for 100 percent tobacco-free environment for Local Government Units and government
organizations. She was also the Head of the DOH’s Integrity Development Committee and of the
Task Force for Performance Governance System and Social Dialogue. She has worked under the
regional offices of SOCCSARGEN, Western Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula, and the Davao
Region. Her designations have also allowed her to reach different regions of the country, such as
the typhoon-devastated Eastern Visayas, and the geographically isolated areas of Palawan, Sulu,
Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan.

Her educational background is also notable. She is the daughter of former UP Professor Neon C.
Rosell, and finished her primary and secondary in UPIS. Afterwhich, she took BS Zoology in UP
Diliman, and Medicine in the University of the East- Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical
Center. Subsequently, she continued her studies, fulfilling her postgraduate internship in the UP-
PGH and her Masters Degree in the UP College of Public Health.

To date, she is blessed with a loving husband of 25 years and a farmer-businessman from La
Rioja, Patnongon, Antique, Mr. Edwin F. Ubial, and a son, Karl, who finished his BS
Psychology studies in the University of Santo Tomas. Her son is currently pursuing a degree in
Medicine from the UST-Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.

Dr. Rosell-Ubial has served public office for 27 years and has been under 13 health secretaries.
She literally rose from the ranks, starting from volunteer health worker in Kidapawan, up to the
position of Assistant Secretary and Deputy Head for the office of health regulations. Her vast
experience in the country’s health conditions have led her to be a leader and champion of
“Kalusugang Pangkalahatan”, with advocacies in mentalhealth, women and children’s health,
and tobacco control, amongothers.

Her extensive career in the Department of Health has led her to numerous notable designations,
such the founding program manager of the “Sentrong Sigla” movement, the quality assurance
program of the DOH, and the founding manager of the Women’s Health and Development
program in the DOH. With her expertise in Women’s Health, she was also named as the DOH
Gender and Development focalperson.

SECRETARY JANETTE P. LORETO-GARIN

Health Secretary Janette P. Loreto-Garin is a physician and was a state legislator for 9 years,
shepherding the Magna Carta for Women, Cheaper Medicines Law, and the Responsible
Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law among many others.

She was trained as a medical technologist and after medical school had a background on
Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her passion for public health, specifically that of women and
children, led her to Masters Degree in Business Administration focused on healthcare systems.

Her understanding the plight of women, children, the elderly, and the less privileged drives her to
ensure that legislation and executive prerogatives are in step in materializing health measures
that will lead Filipinos to enjoy quality lives. As a champion of reproductive right of Filipinos,
she was chosen as one of the Top 100 Inspiring People of the World by Women Deliver in 2011.

A front liner in advancing the advocacy on maternal health and child mortality in order for the
Philippines to attain its MDG commitment, Secretary of Health Janette Petilla Loreto-Garin, a
medical doctor who trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology, successfully championed the passage
of the Cheaper Medicines Act, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law,
Amendment to the Physicians Act and other key health measures in the Philippine Congress.

Secretary of Health Janette L. Garin has dedicated her life to excellence. She graduated cum
laude with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology at the Divine Word
University in Tacloban City. She was an academic scholar and a consistent topnotcher of the
Dean’s List of the St. Luke’s College of Medicine and a Silver Medalist for her course in MBA
Health at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

Secretary Garin’s medical experience led her to understand the plight of women children, elderly
and the less privileged, and continues to commit herself to use the political power delegated to
her to push for health measures that would lead Filipinos to enjoy quality lives.

Secretary Garin was elected Representative of the 1st District Iloilo to the House of
Representatives in 2004. In her first term as legislator, she was elected as the first Filipino board
member of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB). In her second term, she
served as the Deputy Majority Leader of House of Representatives and on the 15th Congress (her
last term), she served as the Senior Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and
was also then the Senior Vice-Chair of the Committee on Population and Family Affairs, as well
as the Committee on Health. As a legislator, she steadfastly advocated for various health and
women’s issues.
Her performance in Congress facilitated recognition in various government sectors and NGOs
where she became one of the most sought after speaker, resource person, debater and lecturer,
both in the Philippines and abroad. She then became a Board Member of the Philippine
Legislators on Community and Population Development and became a regular presenter to the
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development. Further exposure into the
International Community prompted her to be chosen by Women Deliver, a New York based
organization, as one of the Top 100 Inspiring People of the World, together with several
prominent world leaders.

Recently, she was appointed Secretary for the Department of Health after a previous appointment
as Acting Secretary and before that as Undersecretary for the Women, Children and Family
Health Cluster of the Department. Her shift from the legislative to the executive equips her with
experience, wit, and tested dedication to make a difference.

A woman of wit and humor, Health Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin will forever remain a doctor
by heart.

DR. ENRIQUE T. ONA

Our Secretary of Health is recognized as one of the top surgeons of the country specializing in
the field of vascular and transplant surgery. A graduate of the University of Philippines, he
underwent surgical training in the United States and the United Kingdom. He is certified by both
the Philippine and American Board of Surgery.

Upon his return to the country, he joined the faculty of the University of the Philippines and the
Philippine General Hospital. He was a professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery
when he was tapped to become the Executive Director of the National Kidney and Transplant
Institute (NKTI), transforming the said institution into the first ISO-certified government hospital
in the Philippines. Under his leadership, NKTI is now recognized as a world class center in
kidney transplantation, currently performing the second largest transplant program as a single
institution in the world. He performed the first multi-organ transplants in Southeast Asia: liver
and kidney transplant and kidney and pancreas transplant at the NKTI.

He is recipient of numerous national and international awards, such as the Ten Outstanding
Young Men (TOYM) Award in Medicine in 1979, The Most Outstanding Alumnus of the
College of Medicine and most distinguished alumnus of the University of the Philippines. He is
also the first and only Filipino Surgeon to be awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the American
College of Surgeons in 2012, a singular honor for one who is already a Fellow of the College of
Surgeons.

As Secretary of Health, he has devoted relentlessly to the mission of attaining Kalusugan

Pangkalahatan or Universal Health Care for Filipinos, responding to the challenge of His
Excellency President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. In his first year, 5.3 million families or
about 25 million Filipinos have been enrolled in PhilHealth. Under his administration, two
landmark health reforms have been passed, namely the Tobacco and Alcohol Excise Tax Reform
Act of 2012 and the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012.

DR. ESPERANZA I. CABRAL

On January 15, the Department of Health officially welcome a new health secretary - Dr.
Esperanza I. Cabral. At the turn-over ceremonies, she lauded the accomplishments of the
department under the term of Sec. Francisco T. Duque III. She also called on the DOH
personnel to join her in her drive.

DR. FRANCISCO DUQUE III

Dr. Francisco T. Duque III finished both his undergraduate and post-graduate courses in
Medicine at University of Santo Tomas. He finished Master of Science majoring in Pathology at
Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA on 1987. He also attended Immunology
Scientific Training.

DR. MANUEL DAYRIT

Secretary Manuel M. Dayrit has a public health career that spans 27 years. A Bachelor of Arts
graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, he earned his Doctor of Medicine Degree from the
University of the Philippines in 1976. After graduation, he plunged himself into community-
based health work in the rural areas of Mindanao. In 1982, taking a break from community work
and concurrent teaching activities at the Davao Medical School where he was lecturer, he won a
British Council scholarship to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. There, he
completed a Master of Science in Community Health with a Mark of Distinction.

In 1984, he joined the Department of Health as a research epidemiologist. For his work in AIDS,
cholera and red tide, he was named Outstanding Young Scientist by the National Academy of
Science and Technology in 1990.

Secretary Dayrit was involved in a wide range of activities in the Department of Health – among
others, the training of field epidemiologists, disease control programs, public information and
health advocacy, and the regulation of blood banks and clinical laboratories. He rose to the post
of Assistant Secretary in 1992.

He left government in 1997 to join the private sector. He worked with Aetna HMO as Assistant
Vice President for Health Services. Later, he joined a pharmaceutical company, United
Laboratories, Inc. As Assistant Vice President for Regulatory Affairs.

He has become on of the country’s public health leaders, given the breadth and depth of his
experiences in the community, academe and research, government, private sector and
international health. Appointed as Secretary of Health on February 19, 2001 by President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, he has led the Department of Health and its partners to new heights of public
service.

DR. ALBERTO ROMUALDEZ

On 11 September 1998, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada appointed a new health secretary - Dr.
Alberto G. Romualdez, Jr. Maybe, he was coined as the new hero the DOH employees are
waiting for to save them from disgrace during this time.

Sec. Romualdez is a graduate of Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines and
Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is a fellow on
Tumor Immunology at the University of Connecticut and Membrane Biophysics at the Harvard
Medical School in the U.S.A.

Unlike his predecessors, Sec. Romualdez is not new in the DOH. He started as a Medical
Adviser to the then Minister of Health from 1979-1982. He then became the director of the
Research Institute for Tropical Medicine from 1981-1984.

Dr. Romualdez was appointed as Assistant Secretary in 1988. However, he opted to work for the
World Health Organization's (WHO) Western Pacific Region holding position as acting then
regional adviser in Development of Human Resources of Health and director of Health Services,
Development and Planning. From June 1996 until his appointment as Health Secretary, he was
Medical Director of the HCA Philippines, Inc. and at the same time consultant of the WHO and
the DOH.

On 14 September, his 58th birthday, Sec. Romualdez was introduced to the DOH employees
during the regular Monday flag ceremony.

Among his priority concerns on his first few weeks were: (1) to improve efficiency in the use of
resources away from graft issues, (2) to improve access to health services especially to those
underserved for reasons of geography or economy, and (3) to review the strengths and
weaknesses of the DOH's organizational structure within the framework of devolution as
mandated by the Local Government Code.

He said: "When he appointed me, President Estrada's instruction was simple: make sure that the
DOH serves the people, especially the poor... I know that all of you understand this to be the
Department's true mission in the first place. I am therefore sure of your cooperation in
accomplishing the President's instruction. In other words, if you just do your jobs, the rest will
follow.
DR. FELIPE ESTRELLA

Dr. Estrella is a Doctor of Medicine graduate from the University of the Philippines (UP)
College of Medicine Batch 1955. He started his career as an Adjunct Resident of the Department
of Gynecology in PGH in the same year.

After serving UP Manila as a professor and a consultant for nearly 40 years, he got the position
of Vice-Chancellor for Administration in 1985. The following year, he became the Director of
PGH. He held the said position for 8 year, from Semptember 1986 to October 1994.

During his term, the PGH was cited in 1994 as one of the "33 Centers of Excellence in
Government Service" by the Senate Civil Service Committee that was chaired then by Senator
Blas F. Ople.

While attending to his tasks as PGH administrator, Dr. Estrella was also a COnsultant to the
Senate President, Senate-Manila and Special Adviser to the University President at UP Diliman.

After he retired from PGH, he was a consultant to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
of the Medical City. He joined the Medical City as its Director of Medical Services in February
1995. He also worked as a Consultant to the Office of Senator Edgardo Angara (September
1995), Euromed Laboratories, Philippines (November 1995), and UP Health Services (January to
December 1997).

Dr. Estrella has attended post graduate training and education courses at the Radium Hemment in
Stockholm, Sweden; the Memorial Hospital for cancer and Allied Diseases in New York, USA;
the University of Vienna, Austria; and the Harvard Medical School, Harvard University,
Massachusetts, USA.

He also won awards such as the 1997 Gawad Propesyonal sa Medisina from the UP Manila
Alumnia Association and the 1992 Presidential or Lingkod Bayan Award.

DR. CARMENCITA REODICA

Her 32 years of experience as a public health worker and government administrator could not
have prepared her better for the difficult task of Secretary of Health during one of the most
turbulent times in DOH’s history. Like Secretary R.A. Bengzon, her appointment was dealt by
destiny coming unexpectedly at the wake of investigations of financial transactions, resignation
and suspension of several top DOH officials. DOH’s public credibility and internal morale were
at their lowest. Instinctively or perhaps, with shrewd calculation, the President made one of his
wisest moves in history. Showing strong faith in the strength and power of a woman, President
Ramos appointed Dr. Carmencita Noriega-Reodica as the first woman Secretary of Health in
March 1996. In less than two years, Health Secretary Chit Reodica not only regained the stability
within the DOH but also restored DOH to its top position in the public’s awareness and approval.
As an initial task, she streamlined the complicated and inefficient 13-committee procurement
system. Unlike predecessors who have impressive solutions even before full understanding of the
problem, Secretary Reodica carefully studies difficult situations like these through prudently
created committees. Realizing the presence of loyalty factions within the bureaucracy, she
initiated dialogues and DOH employee assemblies to maintain transparency and open
communications. These reduced fears sown by rumors and unclear or inadequate information.
With her non-confrontational but firm style, she avoided unnecessary conflict while maintaining
dialogue and communication even with strongly dissenting groups. Unprovoked by a “macho”
drive, she does not feel she has to answer every criticism of her administration. Coolly and
confidently, she lets the wisdom that underlies her decisions and actions speak for itself a truly
womanly way indeed!

How did Dr. Reodica make it to the top? Where did she begin her public health career?

Carmencita Noriega, born on 24 April 1938, graduated from the University of Santo Tomas
College of Medicine in 1962. She started government service as a Resident Physician in
Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital from 1963 to 1968. After
residency training, she visited the United States, fell in love there, got married, and raised a son.
She rejoined government in December 1974 as a Medical Specialist in the National Family
Planning Office of the Ministry of Health. In April 1984, she took the post of Medical Adviser in
the Office of Minister JC Azurin. Her native talent discovered, Dr. Reodica was designated
coordinator of Minister Azurin’s key project on Primary Health Care. She became Acting
Director of the Nutrition Service before the People Power Reorganization in 1986.

During the People Power Reorganization, she emerged as one of the few who passed Secretary
Bengzon’s critical assessment. Her dedication and integrity was affirmed when she was
appointed Assistant Secretary for Health Services in 1986. Her advice, especially on personal
assessment was taken seriously by the Bengzon administration.

As Assistant Secretary she again handled critical programs and projects during the Bengzon
administration. She organized and established the National Capital Regional Health Office and
was coordinator of the Philippine National Drug Policy or Generics program. She was
Chairperson of the DOH National Disaster Coordinating Committee.

In 1992, Dr. Reodica became the Assistant Secretary of the Office for Special Concerns that
included, yet again, critical key programs in Maternal and Child health, Family Planning,
Nutrition, STD/AIDS and Dental Health. She was the project Director of the Women’s Health
and Safe Motherhood Project, the Integrated Family Planning and Maternal health Project, and
the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Project. She also held other crucial assignments
such as Chairperson on the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women since 1995.
She was President of the UP College of Public Health Alumni Society from 1989 to 1991.

What difference has she made as far as the first woman Secretary of Health?

As Secretary of Health, Secretary Reodica moved the DOH actively towards a people-based – in
contrast to disease- or program-based – approach to public health. Keeping the “life-cycle” in
mind, she focuses programs on specific target age and sectoral groups such as very young
children, adolescents, and women. This approach more readily lends itself to integration of
services from the point of view of the largest clients and not of the provider of services. Her
ultimate vision: healthy and productive individuals and families. For the DOH, she continues the
struggle towards making DOH a Center of Excellence.

During Secretary Reodica’s term, the following programs were initiated: Early Childhood
Development ( a multi-agency collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and
Development and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports); the Adolescent Health
program, the Measles Elimination Campaign, the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness
(IMCI) and various approaches like the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM), the syndromic
approach to STD/AIDS, the quality assurance system for programs, and the life cycle planning
approach.

DR. HILARION J. RAMIRO

As former Regional Health Director for Region X, Dr. H.J. Ramiro was the Congressman of
Misamis Occidental before his appointment as Secretary of Health. This appointment was his
vindication, after having been removed from his Directorship during the People’s Power
reorganization in 1986. Dr. Ramiro thus returned to the Department of Health with enthusiasm
and hope. With his strong political sense to meet the felt needs of the masses, he immediately
launched People’s Health Day on 29 September 1995 to help indigent Filipinos more easily avail
of expensive surgical and medical care. On the first day alone, the following were done in DOH-
retained hospitals and medical center: 500 major surgeries, 665 minor surgeries, 363
electrocardiogram and ultrasound examinations, 4,086 laboratory examinations, 761 x-rays
examinations and 17,188 medical consultations. Secretary Ramiro was able to re-establish
communication with the catholic groups through the Catholic bishop’s conference of the
Philippines not only concerning the controversial tetanus toxoid vaccine but also other
population and family planning issues.

Dr. Ramiro had to hastily resign when controversies regarding financial transactions during his
term become publicly uncomfortable.

DR. JAIME GALVEZ-TAN

He has the rare combination of the following expertise: solid grassroots community work in far
flung doctorless rural areas; national and international health planning and programming, a
faculty of colleges of medicine and health sciences; clinical practice combining North American
European medicine with Asian and Filipino traditional medicine; national health policy
development, national health field operations management, private sector health business
development, research management and local government health development. He has worked
with NGOs, international development agencies, the academe and government agencies. Dr.
Galvez Tan is a Professor of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine; and the
President of Health Futures Foundation, Inc. He was Vice Chancellor for Research of the
University of the Philippines Manila and Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health
Philippines 2002-2005. He served as Regional Adviser in Health and Nutrition for East Asia and
the Pacific Region of UNICEF in Bangkok in 1996. He served the Philippine Department of
Health as Secretary in 1995 and as Undersecretary and Chief of Staff from 1992-94.

A product of Benedictine education, he finished his basic education with honors at San Beda
College Manila 1962-66. He acquired his Bachelor of Science at the University of the
Philippines Diliman in 1970; his Doctor of Medicine, as one of ten most outstanding clinical
clerks, University of the Philippines College of Medicine in 1974 and internship at the Philippine
General Hospital in 1975 as one of ten most outstanding interns. He earned his Masters in Public
Health with a Letter of Excellence, at the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine in
Antwerp, Belgium in 1984 & Fellowship 2000 at Bill and Melinda Gates Institute of Leadership
and Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, U.S.A.

Right after medical internship, Dr. Galvez Tan initiated the community based health programs in
Leyte and Samar with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (1975-78).He was Assistant
Professor of the U.P. School of Health Sciences in Leyte, pioneering the stepladder curriculum
for health sciences education. He was National Training Director of AKAP, an NGO involved in
community based tuberculosis control 1978-80 in Cagayan Valley, Cordilleras, Samar-Leyte,
Davao, Cavite; Project Director of Health and Development Mindanao, working in rural
communities of Davao, Agusan and Cotabato 1981-83; UNICEF Manila National Program
Officer for urban basic services, nutrition, children in especially difficult circumstances, 1985-
92.

Dr. Galvez Tan is co-writer of 4 books: Our Health, Our Lives (1982), a guide for community
health workers; Fruits and Vegetables with Medicinal Properties (1981), and Hilot: The Filipino
Traditional Massage (2006) and Community Managed Maternal and Newborn Care (2006). He
has also authored 40 published papers on diverse subjects in medicine, health and development.
His life history has been incorporated in two books: Revolution from the Heart by Niall O’Brien,
1987 and Beyond the Hospital: A Concept of Community Based medical Practice and
Community Based Health Program by Grace De La Costa-Ymzon, 1994.

He acts as consultant to WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, ILO, World Bank, Asian
Development Bank, AUSAID, JICA and USAID, bringing him to Europe (8 countries), Asia
(14), Pacific (4) Africa (4), Latin America (4), Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand,
Kazakhstan and Russia.

His foremost distinctions are: One of the Outstanding Bedans of the Century 1901-2001 San
Beda College; 1998 Community Service Award, U.P. AlumniAssociation; 1974 Excellence in
Leadership Award, U.P. College of Medicine having been University Councilor 1971, U.P.
Student Council Chairman 1972 and Student Regent, U.P. Board of Regents in 1972-73. He is
married to Ma. Rebecca V. Maraña with 2 children: Ginoo Karlo, born 1982 & Riva Maria 1986
DR. JUAN FLAVIER

Perhaps the most popular Secretary of Health was Dr. JM Flavier. Buoyant and hilarious, he was
right for the mass immunization and micronutrient implementation campaign that marked his
administration. With the battle cry “Let’s DOH it” he popularized the programs and projects of
the Department and injected excitement in the early years of his administration. He encouraged
participation of non-governmental organizations in the DOH projects and was able to tap
industrial sectors. During his term, Barangay Health Workers were organized and among the
many projects initiated were: Healthy Places Initiative, Stop D.E.A.T.H Program, National
Voluntary Blood Service Program, Oplan Sagip Mata, Yosi Kadiri, Doctors to the Barrios
Project, Hataw Fitness Program, Pusong Pinoy, and Hospitals as Center for Wellness Program.

However, the internal turmoil following the devolution of the field health services persisted.
Municipal Health Officers organized and demanded for their legal benefits. Catholic groups
doubted the purity of the tetanus toxoid vaccines. Essential drugs as antibiotics for tuberculosis
and vaccine s for Heaptitis B failed to arrive on time. There were no less than 13 different
communities processing various financial transactions.

Like Secretary Bengzon, Secretary Flavier resigned to run for senatorial seat, which, this time,
was successfully obtained. Senator Flavier chaired the Senate Committee on Social Justice and
Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples.

DR. ANTONIO PERIQUET

He joined the Department during the People Power reorganization in 1986 as Undersecretary fro
Hospital Facilities and Regulation under the Bengson’s administration. Trained in Rehabilitation
Medicine, he promoted community0based rehabilitation program. As Undersecretary, he
initiated strategic planning for hospital development and started networking among major
hospitals in preparation for disasters. He convinced highly trained surgeons and consultants to
operate in far-flung hospitals increasing access to this service. He was appointed Secretary of
Health when Secretary Bengson resigned to run for Senate.

As Secretary of Health, he had to grapple to the challenges of the immediate emotional and
conceptual problems of devolution of health services brought about the Local Government Code
of 1991. Secretary Periquet’s term ended with the change in the national political leadership in
1992.

DR. ALFREDO R.A. BENGZON

As the first Secretary of Health under the restored democracy, Dr. Bengzon had the difficult task
of reorganizing the Department of Health, restoring its soul and spirit and delivering it through a
tense transition. His previous training in Business Management gave him the proper tools to
execute the crucial role dealt by destiny. In his 5 years of administration, he carried out the
transition successfully and carried the DOH to new heights of energy and achievement. With
handpicked managers doing meticulous and systematic target-setting, planning, information
processing and resource management, the discipline and order resulted in more effective delivery
of services.

During his term, “disease detectives” of the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), that
also had a sentinel surveillance system, started to investigate and sort out epidemics and diseases.
Full infant immunization coverage soared from a low of 21% to more than 80% in 3 years.
Secretary Bengzon also championed the National Drug Policy Program (PNDP). In addition to
programs, there were many other major improvements in the DOH system at this time. The
central office buildings were renovated and DOH entered into the whole new world of computers
and fax machines. The many programs and projects initiated during Secretary Bengzon’s term
included the following, among others: Control Of Acute Respiratory Infections, Control of
Hepatitis B, Polio Eradication, National AIDS Prevention and Control Program, Non-
Communicable Disease Programs (like the Cardiovascular and Cancer Control Programs), and
the Philippine Health Development Project (PHDP).

Secretary Bengzon was also designated as the Peace Commissioner tasked with the formulation
of the government’s comprehensive peace strategy. He also served as a member of the
Philippine-negotiating panel on the American bases.

The second half of his term, however, became controversial when he pushed the Generic Law
amidst opposition from the medical practitioners and drug manufacturers, an inevitable conflict
by the wary nature of the law. Paradoxically, Secretary Bengzon received international
recognition for his work in PNDP. Also, the field health staff never quite understood how a
powerful and influential man who successfully advocated for a highly controversial Generic Law
could be so helpless against the Local Government Code of 1991.

Secretary resigned to run for a senate seat, but fell short of his goal by a few thousand votes.
Many reckon the above-named factors prevented him from achieving his target.