Part One
BEFORE the end of 2016, the new Social Security Commission (SSC), the policy-making body of the Social Security System (SSS), had been appointed by the Duterte administration.
Under Republic Act (RA) 8282, also known as the social-security law, the SSC shall be “composed of the secretary of labor and employment or his duly designated undersecretary, the SSS president and seven appointive members, three of whom shall represent the workers’ group, at least one of whom shall be a woman; three from the employers’ group, at least one of whom shall be a woman; and one from the general public, whose representative shall have adequate knowledge and experience regarding social security, to be appointed by the President of the Philippines”.
Under the present administration, appointed as chairman of the SSC is the former dean of the University of the East College of Law and employer representative Amado D. Valdez; SSS president and CEO is former Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc. Also sitting in the SSC are Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III as ex officio member; three labor representatives: Arthur L. Amansec, Gonzalo T. Duque and Anita B. Quitain; two other employer representatives: Diana Pardo-Aguilar and Jose Gabriel M. La Viña; and representing the public Michael G. Regino.
Dean Valdez heads the governing board that is responsible in the governance of the SSS in terms of providing policy directions, monitoring and overseeing management actions, and with powers and duties specified by Section 4 of the SS law. The chairman also performs quasijudicial functions through the decisions rendered in cases involving disputes on SS coverage, benefits, contributions and penalties, which fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SSC. He also chairs the SSC Risk Management Committee, and is a member of the Investment Oversight and Audit Committees.
A legal luminary, an educator and a constitutionalist, Valdez served as the dean of the UE College of Law in 2000 and from 2005 to 2014. He was a director of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance and member of the Cabinet Assistance System during the term of President Corazon Aquino. In 2001 he served as government corporate counsel with the rank of presiding justice of the Court of Appeals. He was also a senior undersecretary at the Office of the President and concurrent executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Prior to this, Valdez was a general attorney at the Law Center of the US Naval Base in Subic Bay and was an associate of Martin, Davis & Lewis law firm in Los Angeles, California. Valdez’s professional and civic involvement includes holding top positions, such as president and chairman emeritus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and Ospital ng Maynila; president of the International Association of Constitutional Law-Philippine Branch and the Philippine Association of Law Schools; member of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Judicial Academy and Universidad de Manila or City of College of Manila; director of the Rotary Club of Manila, Philex Mining Corp. and John Hay Management Corp., and board member of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, among others.
As president and CEO of the SSS, Emmanuel F. Dooc, who is a lawyer, is responsible for the overall planning, organizing, directing, controlling, monitoring and coordinating the activities of the SSS to achieve its overall objectives and targets. He is also responsible for defining the corporate vision, setting the tone and cultivating values appropriate to the SSS as a civil service and a government financial institution. He sits as the vice chairman of the SSC and is also a member of the Risk Management and Investment Oversight committees; and a resource person for Audit, Governance, Organization and Appointments, Information Technology and Coverage and Collection committees.
A Baldomero B. Aguinaldo awardee for 2016, Dooc was recognized for his pioneering leadership in the field of insurance, such as ensuring that millions of Filipinos are secured by inclusive and quality coverage, and helping raise the life-insurance coverage rate to 37.35 percent of the population through microinsurance, among many other achievements. The Baldomero B. Aguinaldo award is given by the Department of Finance (DOF) to outstanding officials of the DOF and its attached agencies.
Dooc holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Mabini Colleges. He topped the teachers’ competitive examination in the school division of Camarines Norte, and even earned a Certificate on Teaching the Visually Impaired (graduate degree) from the Philippine Normal University—degrees that helped him as a public-school teacher for various special groups. He later earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from San Beda College.
He started his corporate career as a lawyer at the Tax Division of SGV and Co. He later moved to Hong Kong in 1988 to work as vice president for operations at the head office of American International Assurance Ltd. In 1997 he moved back to Manila to serve as first vice president and general counsel of Philam Life and General Insurance Co. Later on, he was appointed as chief compliance and governance officer for all member-companies of the Philam Group, before being promoted to senior vice president and chief compliance and governance officer of Philam Life and General Insurance Co.
He was appointed by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III as acting insurance commissioner on January 5, 2011, a post he held until the passage of RA 10607, otherwise known as the Revised Insurance Code of 2012. He was reappointed to a fresh six-year term under the new Code on December 4, 2013. However, President Duterte later chose him to head the SSS, instead.
Dooc’s professional accomplishments and vast experience in the insurance industry are expected to bring increased positive developments to the SSS’s efforts in continually improving its operations, services and finances.
To be continued