Ted Herbosa gets health portfolio
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday appointed Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. as head of the Department of National Defense (DND), a post he held under the Arroyo administration, and Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, former adviser of the National Task Force against COVID-19 adviser, as secretary of the Department of Health (DOH).
With the appointments of Teodoro and Herbosa, the President needs only to name an agriculture secretary, a position he holds in concurrent capacity. He has said that when he appoints a permanent secretary for the Department of Agriculture, he would choose an agriculture expert who understands the “science and the solution” of the industry.
Last month, Marcos talked about a possible re-organization of his Cabinet, hinting of the inclusion of some candidates who ran in the 2022 polls as the one-year appointment ban on those who ran in the May elections has lapsed. He also said the one year “OJT (on the job training)” period after his election on May 9, 2022 is over and he is “now able to see and determine who performed well in his Cabinet and who continues to be important in what his administration is doing for the country.
Teodoro was one of the senatorial candidates under the UniTeam of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte in the May 2022 elections. He was also a candidate for president in 2010 but lost to his cousin, the late President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
Teodoro is married to Marcos’ special envoy to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and former Tarlac representative Monica Prieto Teodoro. He is the son of the former Social Security System Administrator Gilberto Teodoro Sr. who held the position from 1966 to 1986 under then President Ferdinand Marcos.
The appointments were announced on social media by the Presidential Communications Office which also posted photos of the President with the new Cabinet members and the officers-in-charge of the DND and DOH, namely Senior Defense Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Vergeire has been OIC of DOH since the start of the Marcos administration in June last year while Galvez was appointed to the DND in January this year vice Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr.
Vergeire, in a statement, welcomed Herbosa’s appointment.
“Our new secretary can be assured of the wholehearted support of the entire DOH family,” she said.
Teodoro served as defense chief under the Arroyo government from 2007 to 2010 and assumed the concurrent role of chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) during his tenure.
He was offered the position of defense secretary by then President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 but he declined.
Prior to joining the Arroyo Cabinet, Teodoro was a three-term member of the House of Representatives, representing the first district of Tarlac, from 1998 to 2007, where he authored 106 bills during his stint.
Teodoro is also a lawyer who graduated at the top of his class at the University of the Philippines and topped the Philippine Bar Examinations in 1989. He also has a Master’s degree in Law from Harvard University, a Doctor’s degree in Law from the West Negros University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Major in Financial Institutions, from De La Salle University – Manila.
Teodoro, who has been an advocate for human rights, has also been recognized as a Leadership Awardee and Seminar Academic Excellence Awardee during his time at the Air Command and Staff College, Air Education and Training Command Philippine Air Force Command and Staff Course in 2001.
HEALTH
Herbosa’s name had been floated since last year as among nominees for the health portfolio.
He is a professor at the College of Medicine in the University of the Philippines Manila.
Herbosa served as DOH undersecretary from 2010 to 2015 and was at one time, concurrent regional director at the DOH-National Capital Regional Office.
At the height of the COVID pandemic, Herbosa served as a special adviser to the NTF COVID-19. He was a member of the Board of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) then.
He had served in various key positions in different institutions such as chairman of the Emergency Medicine at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital; executive vice president of the University of the Philippines System; chief, Division of Trauma at the Department of Surgery, Philippine General Hospital; chairman, board for Physicians for Peace Philippines; and third vice president of the UP Alumni Association.
He also served as professor in the Emergency Department at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan, and at the National University of Malaysia both in Malaysia; board member for the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM); medical consultant/adviser for the Australasian Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians in Australia; and regional education coordinator for the HOPE Program (Hospital Preparedness and Emergencies) at John Hopkins University Center for International Emergencies, Disasters, and Refugee Studies (CIEDRS).
The PCO said Herbosa has served as an international consultant in several countries including Palau, Maldives, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Tunisia, and Thailand, “making notable contributions to emergency medicine and trauma care.”
“Dr. Herbosa’s involvement in the development of the STOP DEATH Program and his membership in the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Global Task Force, which developed the WHO safe surgery checklist, further demonstrate his dedication to improving healthcare systems,” PCO added.
Herbosa obtained his medical degree from the University of the Philippines Manila and holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of the Philippines in Diliman.
He also has an International Diploma Course in Emergency and Crisis Management from the University of Geneva, and Postgraduate Studies in Medicine from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. — With Gerard Naval
