SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—It was a homecoming of sort, as far as the newly appointed head of the country’s leading freeport is concerned.
A member of original volunteer corps who stepped up to protect the former naval base in Subic after the pull-out of the US bases in 1992, lawyer Wilma “Amy” T. Eisma assumes her post as the seventh administrator and chief executive officer of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
Eisma was warmly welcomed back to her “home” by agency officials and employees in a simple program highlighted by the traditional passing of the SBMA flag symbolizing the turnover of the helm to Eisma, the agency’s first woman administrator and CEO, from her predecessor Roberto V. Garcia.
The ceremony was also witnessed by the members of the SBMA Board of Directors and local government officials from Olongapo City, and the contiguous provinces of Zambales and Bataan.
She formally took her oath of office as SBMA administrator before President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Jan. 9, 2017 along with the new members of the SBMA Board of Directors Benny Diaz Antiporda, Maria Cecilia Bobadilla Bitare, Tomas Lahom III and Stefani Creer Saño.
As administrator and CEO, Eisma shall also sit as vice chairman to the SBMA Board of Directors.
Born and raised in Olongapo City, Eisma is a seasoned lawyer with over 23 years of experience in both government service and the private sector.
Prior to her appointment, she was the Sustainability and Contributions Manager of PMFTC Inc., the Philippine affiliate of Philip Morris International.
Eisma was instrumental in PMI’s decision to locate its regional tobacco warehouse for Asia Pacific in Subic Bay Freeport.
Eisma is very much at home in SBMA. As a young lawyer, she started her career as the Executive Assistant to the Chairman and member of the Legal Department at the time of the agency’s formation and foundation from 1993 to 1998. She was also a member of the team that successfully negotiated assistance of the World Bank to SBMA including the entry/investment of Federal Express, and various international and local investors resulting to thousands of jobs.