President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator and chief executive officer Atty. Wilma T. Eisma as chairperson of the Freeport authority. This effectively ends the leadership dispute between Eisma and Martin Diño, who was previously appointed chairman by Duterte.
Eisma’s appointment follows Duterte’s signing of Executive Order (EO) No. 42 on September 25 merging the posts of SBMA administrator and chairperson. EO 42 repeals EO 340, which was issued by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004 and which separated the posts of administrator and chairperson.
Eisma’s appointment paper, signed on September 25, said her term expires on June 30, 2022. She was sworn into office on September 26 by acting executive secretary Menandro Guevarra.
Eisma was appointed administrator and CEO of SBMA in September 2016 while Diño sat as chairman. Diño abandoned his presidential bid to give way to the candidacy of then Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 elections.
Diño has been appointed undersecretary for Barangay Affairs under the Department of Interior and Local Government. In a press conference on September 27, he said he was offered the post in a meeting called for by Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Under the EO, the SBMA head is tasked to execute, administer, and implement the policies and measures approved and adopted by the SBMA Board; directly administer and supervise the operations and day-to-day business activities of SBMA; and exercise control and supervision over decisions and actions of subordinate officers.
Eisma hails from Olongapo City, Zambales and is a seasoned lawyer with over 23 years of experience in both government service and private sector work. She was a member of the original volunteer corps that stepped up to protect the former naval base in Subic after the pull-out of the U.S. bases in 1992.
Prior to her appointment as SBMA chief, she was the sustainability and contributions manager of PMFTC Inc., the Philippine affiliate of Philip Morris International. Before joining the private sector, she served as head executive assistant and legal counsel to the majority floor leader of the House of Representatives, and was chief of staff of the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry from 2000 to 2001.
She was also formerly the executive assistant of the SBMA chairman and member of the legal department from 1993 to 1998, the time when the agency was being established. She represented SBMA in local judicial courts and oversaw the housing department of the agency in managing negotiation and collection.
She was also a member of the team that successfully negotiated for the assistance of the World Bank to SBMA, and for the entry of Federal Express and various international and local investors in Subic, resulting in jobs for thousands of locals.
Eisma is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Ateneo de Manila University’s College of Law. – Roumina Pablo
