Janette Loreto Garin (born Janette Petilla Loreto; December 11, 1972) is a Filipina physician and politician who, since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, has been serving as the Representative for

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

's 1st district, a position she previously served in from 2004 to 2013. She was the

Secretary of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate Minister of Mental Health, ...

from 2015 to 2016 in the administration of 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 ...

. She is also a former provincial board member of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

and

, respectively. As a congresswoman, she focused on various health issues such as curbing fraud in PhilHealth and amending the Physician's Act among others. She has also advocated for women's issues, including pushing for the passage of the

Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, also known as the Reproductive Health Law or RH Law, and officially designated as Republic Act No. 10354, is a Philippine law that provides universal access to methods of contracept ...

. She played an active role in the enactment of the Cheaper Medicines Law and the Magna Carta of Women.

Biography

Garin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology at the Divine Word University in

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...

. She was a scholar at St. Luke's College of Medicine. She transferred and completed her Doctor of Medicine at the

Iloilo Doctors' College Iloilo Doctors' College is an institution of higher education located in Molo, Iloilo City, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located ...

. She had two years of residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Iloilo Doctor's Hospital. She later served as a member of the Iloilo Provincial Board for 6 years. Garin was elected as the first Filipino board member to the Parliamentary Network on the

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(PNoWB) during its Sixth Annual Conference held in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

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on October 21–22, 2005. She was re-elected to this post to the following conference in Paris.

Personal life

She is married to Richard S. Garin, son of former Iloilo House of Representative Oscar Gemarino Garin and Ninfa Serag Garin. On August 18, 2021, Garin tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

References

1972 births Living people Lakas–CMD politicians Secretaries of health of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Iloilo People from Iloilo Politicians from Leyte (province) Benigno Aquino III administration cabinet members Women members of the Cabinet of the Philippines Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines 21st-century Filipino women politicians 21st-century Filipino politicians {{Philippines-politician-stub