Former SBMA chairman Eisma named Pagcor prex, chief operating officer
OLONGAPO City—former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma has formally taken over as president and chief operating officer of the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on April 18, a statement by the SBMA read.
Eisma, who was appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as Pagcor director on March 27, 2024, served as director of the Development Bank of the Philippines after she left the SBMA in 2022, according to the statement.
Eisma was sworn into office as Pagcor president and COO last Thursday morning in Malacañang by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, according to the Pagcor.
An April 2 memorandum from Bersamin had previously informed Pagcor Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco that Malacañang had also approved Eisma’s nomination as Pagcor president and chief operating officer.
Tengco was quoted in a statement that Pagcor issued last Thursday the governmentowned and controlled corporation is “happy to welcome” Eisma as Pagcor’s new President and COO.
“We know she will be a great asset, and her vast experience in both the government and private sectors will surely be put to good use here,” the Pagcor chairman added.
Eisma took her oath of office in the presence of her family, Tengco and Development Bank of the Philippines Chairman Philip G. Lo. Pagcor’s statement read that she then immediately joined her first Pagcor Board meeting in the afternoon of April 18 as the agency’s first ever woman President and COO.
Key positions
A LAWYER by profession, Ms. Eisma earned her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and was a member of the Board of Directors of the DBP before joining the state gaming firm.
Eisma became the first woman to head the SBMA as chairman and administrator, earning distinction for drawing out outstanding financial performance by the agency by promoting the culture of “malasakit” among workers and investors in the free port zone.
Her private sector stints include leadership roles in PMFTC Inc., the Philippine affiliate of Philip Morris International.
She also held key positions at the Department of Trade and Industry where she worked at the Office of the Secretary and in the Office of the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, among others.
Her astute management of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone also earned her distinction, including a silver Stevie Award for “Thought Leader of the Year” in 2023 for proactive measures she instituted as SBMA chief and for crafting a roadmap to survival before and at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that saved jobs and investments in Subic Bay.
Eisma succeeded Atty. Juanito L. Sañosa Jr. who resigned as Pagcor President and COO last January.