Enrique Tangonan Ona Jr. (born June 4, 1939) is a Filipino surgeon and public servant. He was the Secretary of the Department of Health from 2010 to 2014, succeeding Dr. Esperanza Cabral. Recognized as one of the top surgeons in the field of vascular surgery and organ transplantation, he earned his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

(M.D.) from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine at the

University of the Philippines Manila The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, public research university located in Ermita, Manila, Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is the oldest of eight constituent ...

Background

Dr. Ona hails from Pagadian City. He is the son of the first Provincial Health Officer of Zamboanga del Sur. Before being appointed by President

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...

to the Health secretary post, Ona was the executive director of the

National Kidney and Transplant Institute The National Kidney and Transplant Institute is a tertiary referral hospital located in Central, Quezon City, Philippines. The hospital opened on January 16, 1981. The National Kidney and Transplant Institute, or NKTI, is a tertiary medical ...

(NKTI), the post he held for 11 years and has been the president of the Transplantation Society of the Philippines since 1989. He also holds a medical license in the state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Health Secretary

After being appointed to the Health Department post, president

has instructed him "with regard to expediting universal coverage of PhilHealth, which was one of the campaign promises of Aquino considering that health is the third priority in the platform of the Aquino administration."

Awards and recognition

*The Presidential Award of Recognition in Organ Transplantation, Year 2000. *Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee for Medicine in 1979.

References

1939 births Living people Benigno Aquino III administration cabinet members Filipino people of Japanese descent People from Negros Occidental People from Pagadian Secretaries of health of the Philippines University of the Philippines Manila alumni {{Philippines-politician-stub