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
countrys health conditions have led her to be a leader and champion of
Kalusugang Pangkalahatan, with advocacies in mentalhealth, women and
childrens 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 Womens Health and Development program in the
DOH. With her expertise in Womens 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 DOHs 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
countrys health conditions have led her to be a leader and champion of
Kalusugang Pangkalahatan, with advocacies in mentalhealth, women and
childrens 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 Womens Health and Development program in the
DOH. With her expertise in Womens 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 Deans List of
the St. Lukes College of Medicine and a Silver Medalist for her course in MBA Health at the
Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

Secretary Garins 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 womens 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 countrys 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 DOHs 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. DOHs 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 publics 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
Azurins 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 Bengzons 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 Womens 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 Reodicas 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 Peoples 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 Peoples 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 bishops 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 OBrien, 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. Maraa 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
Lets 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 Bengsons
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 Periquets 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 Bengzons 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 governments 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.