Aquino makes it official: Garin is new Health secretary

President Benigno Aquino III has made good on his word to make Acting Health Secretary Janette Garin the official head of the Department of Health, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Thursday.

 

“The nomination was sent by the Office of the President to the Commission on Appointments, which will eventually schedule the confirmation hearings,” Coloma said in an email.

 

Acting Sec. Garin was undersecretary for the DOH Women, Children and Family Health Cluster, before she was appointed acting secretary in November 2014. She was formerly a representative of Iloilo’s First District, serving from June 2004 to June 2013.

 

Garin has been the acting DOH secretary since former Health Secrerary Enrique Ona took a leave of absence last year.

 

Ona eventually resigned from his post, following accusations of involvement in alleged irregularities in the purchase the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)-10 by the DOH, instead of the reportedly more cost-effective PCV-13 two years ago. 

 

A month after taking over the DOH’s helm in an acting capacity, Garin was criticized for visiting quarantined peacekeepers from Ebola-hit Liberia without wearing any protective gear. 

 

The DOH, under her watch, also came under fire for releasing a public service announcement about teen pregnancy, deemed inappropriate by Filipinos on social media. 

 

Garin even appeared at the end of the controversial video, which was also allegedly plagiarized.

 

Before her DOH stint, Garin was a three-term Iloilo congresswoman aligned with the ruling Liberal Party (LP). She actively pushed for the passage of the administration-backed Reproductive Health (RH) Law. — JDS, GMA News