President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed Dr. Edwin Mercado as the new Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH), succeeding outgoing Secretary Jose “Brix” Pujalte Jr., who stepped down for health reasons.
Mercado, who has been serving as acting President and Chief Executive Officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), brings to the DOH decades of experience in healthcare management, health financing, and universal health care. He was appointed to lead PhilHealth in February 2025.
Before joining PhilHealth, Mercado held various leadership positions in the healthcare sector. He served as medical director of the Daniel O. Mercado Medical Center from 1998 to 2000 and later as president and CEO of several hospitals from 2000 to 2016.
He also served as a consultant for the Asian Development Bank and the Zuellig Family Foundation and was part of the Department of Health’s Strategic Advisory Group for Universal Health Care Implementation.
Mercado earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines Manila. He completed a Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery at Harvard Medical School and a master’s degree in Hospital Administration from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, President Marcos appointed Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho as the new president and CEO of PhilHealth, succeeding Mercado.
Ho currently serves as chief health officer of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. and previously held several key positions at the DOH.
She served as DOH undersecretary in 2022 and assistant secretary from January 2023 to January 2024. She also served as deputy spokesperson of the department from March 2020 to December 2023.
She previously headed the DOH Health Promotion Bureau and Disease Prevention and Control Bureau and served as special assistant to the health secretary for universal health coverage.
She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines Manila and a Master in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Ho’s recognitions include the Leadership Award in Public Health Practice from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2024 and the Ten Outstanding Young Men award in 2022. | *PND*
