MEET THE SEC MANAGEMENT

 

FE B. BARIN
Chairman

Ms. Fe B. Barin, whose appointment was issued by the Philippine President on August 18, 2004, assumed the Office of the SEC Chairperson on September 01, 2004.

Ms. Barin’s distinguished career in government service started with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (formerly the Central Bank of the Philippines) where she held various positions and culminated in her appointment as a Member of the Monetary Board in October 2002.

Prior to her Presidential appointment as Monetary Board  Member, she was also appointed by the President as the first Chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), a newly-created quasi-judicial body mandated to regulate the electric power industry. She served in that capacity from August 2001 to September 2002.

Ms. Barin acquired the broad experience she has in the regulation of the financial sector from the various prestigious positions she held and the different training grants she received.

Among the other important positions she held are the following:

  • Member of Central Bank Board of Liquidators – BSP, 2002-2004

  • Consultant – BSP, 2000-2001

  • Secretary to the Monetary Board and Special Assistant to the Governor – BSP, 1974-2000

  • Assistant Legal Counsel – PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation), 1969-1973

Some of the trainings and seminars that were awarded to her are:

  • Seminar/Workshop on Corporate Restructuring: International Best Practices, World Bank, Washington, D.C.

  • US Monetary Policy Implementation Course, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York USA

  • Assessing Banking Fragility, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.

  • Nomura Securities Seminar on Japanese Capital Market, Tokyo, Japan

  • Workshop on Restructuring Banking Institutions: Techniques for Managing Successful Turnarounds, Washington, D.C.

  • Investment Negotiations Course, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.

Chairperson Barin envisions making the SEC an office that is respected as a reasonable regulator. For this purpose, she will build on the foundation left by her predecessors since she is confident that the SEC has always been guided by the declaration of policies in the various legislations it is implementing, such the Securities Regulation Code and the Corporation Code, among other laws.

While she recognizes that business needs to make money and that business needs investors, she shares the view that business has to have social conscience. Hence, business should not undermine the interest of the public in general, and the investors in particular. Accordingly, Ms. Barin is fully cognizant of the need to balance the objectives of developing the capital markets, promoting free enterprise, and protecting the public interest.

Ms. Barin is a member of the Philippine bar. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines, the premier state-owned university, Ms. Barin holds the rare distinction of acquiring her formal education from the public school system.

She is a member of various professional societies such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, WILOCI, WLAP, and ASEAN Law Association.

 

 

Ma. JUANITA ELEGIR-CUETO

Commissioner

Ms. Ma. Juanita Elegir-Cueto was appointed on June 5, 2001

Ms. Cueto, a member of the Philippine Bar, graduated with the Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila College of Law. She was Associate Editor of the Ateneo Law Journal. Earlier, she graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines.

She brings to the Commission a stockbroker's background, having been the Chairperson and President of the Yaptinchay Securities Corporation since the year 2000, until her assumption of office. She was also its General Manager, Corporate Secretary and Legal Counsel for eight years.

She was a member of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc., and its Committees for Settlement, Demutualization, and the Legislative. She was also a Director and Corporate Secretary of the Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines.

Her previous professional experience includes a stint as associate lawyer of the Barcelona, Perlas, Joven and Academia Law Office; Legal Officer III at the Legal Service Office of the Department of Trade and Industry; Legal Staff Officer IV of Representative Vicente Rivera, Jr.; and, Legislative Staff Chief of Representative Edward M. Matti.

 

 

RAUL J. PALABRICA
 Commissioner

Commissioner Raul J. Palabrica assumed his office on April 18, 2005.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. In college, he was the editor in chief of his law class yearbook and managing editor of the Philippine Collegian, the university school organ.

Upon passing the bar examinations, he joined the law offices of Siguion Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako. He later transferred to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) to head its legal affairs department. He held the positions of director, legal counsel and corporate secretary in various PLDT subsidiaries and affiliate companies.

He was a professorial lecturer for four years at the U.P. College of Law.

After almost 20 years, he retired from PLDT with the rank of First Vice President for Legal and Corporate Affairs, and Assistant Corporate Secretary.

He then moved to the Office of then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to serve  as its Legal Counsel and Chief of Staff for 11 months.

In 2000, he became the General Counsel and Readers' Advocate of the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper where he wrote a regular column on readers' complaints and current national and local issues.

 

 

MANUEL B. GAITE
 Commissioner

Manuel B. Gaite was appointed by Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 16, 2009.

Mr. Gaite finished his degree of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (1977) and Bachelor of Laws (1982) at the Ateneo de Manila University. He passed the bar in 1983.

On June 16, 1983, Mr. Gaite joined the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel as a research attorney and rose through the ranks becoming a trial attorney and later a State Corporate Attorney. In February 1986, he was detailed to the Office of the President, where he served in varying capacities and under four presidents starting with President Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and now President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Prior to his appointment at the Securities and Exchange Commission, he was the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs in the Office of the President from January 20, 2003. He was also Executive Director of the Secretary in the Presidential Management Staff.

Mr. Gaite likewise sat in the board of various government corporations - Manila International Airport Authority, Home Guaranty Corporation, Food Terminal, Inc., and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

 

 

 

ELADIO M. JALA

Commissioner

Prior to his appointment as SEC Commissioner on November 23, 2009, Commissioner Eladio M. Jala was an educator, private law practitioner, and lawmaker.

 After doing his undergraduate studies in Education at the Divine Word College (DWC) in Bohol, he worked as a high school teacher in Loboc, Bohol, and taught at the Bohol School of Arts and Trade as well. He finished his law studies in DWC in 1982, and after passing the Bar, he began a lucrative law practice and was an active member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Bohol chapter. He also was a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals, and the Bohol Island Lions International Club. His stint both as an educator and a law practitioner made him a driving force in human rights advocacy.

 In 1992, he won a seat in the Bohol provincial board.  For six years as a board member, he sponsored some 180 resolutions and authored some 50 ordinances.  When he won a congressional seat in 1998, he was chosen as Chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation, Senior Vice Chairman of the Higher and Technical Education Committee, and appointed a member of 13 other House Committees.

 During his tenure as a representative, he filed several bills, the most notable of which were the granting of civil service eligibility to government employees who had rendered continuous service for more than 10 years; the outlawing of political turncoatism; and adopting community service as an alternative penalty for certain offenses in lieu of imprisonment and fines.

 

 

 

 

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