Former Court of Appeals justice named Insurance Commission head

MANILA, Philippines - The Insurance Commission (IC) has a new commissioner in Santiago J. Ranada, retired justice of the Court of Appeals, replacing long-time commissioner Eduardo T. Malinis.

Malinis was informed of his replacement in the morning of Thursday, Feb. 18, and Ranada was sworn-in by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves at four on the same afternoon at the Department of Finance (DOF).

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the appointment paper was dated January 23, and it was transmitted to the finance department on Feb. 9. IC officials claim that they were informed only on Feb. 18.

Since the position of commissioner of the IC is by presidential appointment, Ranada’s term ends sometime in June.

Ranada, who hails from Laoag, Ilocos Norte, retired as justice of the Court of Appeals in November 2006 after serving for nearly three decades as judge starting in 1978 with the Court of First Instance.

He took his law education at the Ateneo de Manila University.

His father, Santiago Sr., was also a judge in the regional trial court of Pasay City before the older Santiago retired.

Together with retired Justice Oswaldo Agcaoili, Ranada went to court in an attempt to stop the playing of the controversial Garci tapes, as well as question the legality of allowing the Senate from conducting public hearing on the electoral process in relation to the Garci tapes.

Ranada also penned the decision to slap a filing fee worth P472 million versus the P470 docking and filing fees, in relation to the Marcos Estates and the $2.25 billion class suit.

The new commissioner sits in the board of the Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat) representing the 39.94 percent equity of the national government, along with lawyers Daniel C. Gutierrez and Allan S. Montano.

He was the recent recipient of the Awards of Recognition given by the President. Other awardees were Celia C. Librea-Leagogo, Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, Arturo Tayag, Vicente Yap, Edgardo A. Camello and Magdangal M. de Leon of the Court of Appeals; Commissioner Manuel A. Barcelona Jr. of the Commission on Elections; and Commissioner Ronald Olivar Solis of the National Telecommunications Commission.

Malinis has been IC commissioner under three presidents - Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Arroyo. He retired in October 2003 but was recalled the following year. He quietly slipped back to retirement in late 2004 but was recalled anew when the then serving commissioner was removed.                   — Ted Torres