Duque elected GSIS chairman; Romulo to DBP

MANILA, Philippines -  Former health secretary Francisco Duque III was elected chairman of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) by its board of trustees last Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, former foreign secretary Alberto Romulo was elected board chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Duque was first appointed by President Duterte as a member of the GSIS board of trustees on Feb. 15 but the Governance Commission for Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) had nominated him as chairman.

The nomination was approved by Duterte so Duque, 60, was elected chairman by the board last month.?

The President had earlier appointed Romulo as member of the DBP board.

Romulo served as foreign affairs secretary also of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He had served as executive secretary in the Arroyo administration.

He also served as budget secretary of former president Corazon Aquino.

According to Duque, his priority will be the improvement of benefits for government retirees who dedicated their lives with commitment and hard work to serve Filipinos.

“One of the objectives of GSIS is to help government retirees. They are jobless so GSIS has to be there for them,” said Duque who served as secretary of the Department of Health from June 2005 to January 2010. 

During his term, the DOH earned high approval and satisfaction ratings at the Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys from 2005 to 2009 and a World Health Organization citation for being one of only three countries with excellent risk communication strategies against AH1N1.

Duque was also appointed chairman of the Civil Service Commission where he became pivotal in developing the commission’s Roadmap for Development and Reforms for 2010-2015, a five-year blueprint for priority programs for the country’s 1.4 million workforce.

Prior to his stint at DOH, Duque was president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. from 2001 to 2005.