Herminio "Sonny" B. Coloma Jr. (born March 28, 1953) is a Filipino businessman and educator. He was a member of the Philippine Cabinet and Secretary of Presidential Communications Office during the presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III. He is also a professor at the

Asian Institute of Management The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is a highly acclaimed management school and research institution located in Makati in The Philippines. Established in partnership with Harvard Business School,, AIM Historical Highlights. in 1968, it is ...

. Coloma took part in the

Diliman Commune The Diliman Commune was a nine-day uprising led by the students, faculty members, and residents of the University of the Philippines Diliman, on February 1–9, 1971 — about a year after the events of the First Quarter Storm and about a yea ...

of 1971 at the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

, where he graduated in 1973. He assumed the post of executive vice president of the

Manila Bulletin The ''Manila Bulletin'' () (also known as the ''Bulletin'' and previously known as the ''Manila Daily Bulletin'' from 1906 to September 23, 1972, and the ''Bulletin Today'' from November 22, 1972, to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest ...

newspaper on September 1, 2016.

Early life and education

Coloma was born in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

on March 28, 1953. He took up Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in

where he graduated in 1973. He then took Masters in Business Management in

graduating with distinction in 1978. He finished his Doctor of Philosophy in 2009 at

Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute The Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Development Institute Graduate School of Organization Development and Planning, also known as the SAIDI Graduate School of OD&P, or simply SAIDI, is a graduate school in Antipolo, Rizal Province, Philippines. ...

Career

Coloma started working as editor of the Far East Bank and Trust Co.'s bank publication in March 1974. He served as Vice president of the same bank from 1982 to 1988. By June 1998 he started working at

as a professor. He has taken five work leaves from AIM to work for the government. He first served as undersecretary of

Department of Agrarian Reform The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR; ) is an executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the redistribution of agrarian land in the Philippines. The secretary of agrarian reform is the head of DAR. List of the Secreta ...

. Then from 1989 to 1991 he served as undersecretary of

Department of Transportation and Communications The Department of Transportation (DOTr; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the maintenance and expansion of viable, efficient, and dependable transportation systems as effective instruments for national re ...

. He also served as the head of the Presidential Management Staff from 1990 to 1991 under President

Cory Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from 1986 to 1992. She was ...

. Coloma briefly served as president of North Luzon Railways Corporation and then served as undersecretary of DOTC under President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

from 1998 to 2000. From 2010 until 2016 Coloma served as Secretary of Presidential Communications Operations which replaces the Office of Press Secretary. In 2012, Coloma received the Quadricentennial Service Award from

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

for his important role in the 400th founding anniversary of the university. After

Civil Service Commission A civil service commission (also known as a Public Service Commission) is a government agency or public body that is established by the constitution, or by the legislature, to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, overse ...

chairperson

Francisco Duque III Francisco Tiongson Duque III (; born February 13, 1957) is a Filipino people, Filipino physician and government official who served as Secretary of Health (Philippines), Secretary of Health in the Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, Cabinet of Presi ...

stepped down last September 2015, Coloma was considered to succeed as chair of CSC. Coloma however chose to decline the offer to be appointed as CSC chairperson, and stayed in his post as PCOO Secretary. Coloma also served several private companies. From 1996 to 2008 he is a Director of Transnational Diversified Group where he also served as Division President and Group Chief Learning Officer from 2004 to 2008. From 2005 he is a Director of Loyola Plans Consolidated, Inc. He also served as Management consultant of various organizations including

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

(1990),

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

(1991–2000),

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

(circa 1995),

Land Bank of the Philippines Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), often referred to simply as LandBank, is a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen. While it provides the services of a universal bank, it ...

(1992–1998),

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(2005–2006), and

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, ; ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Hokkien ) is a major Filipino bank based in Pasay in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, during the Insular Government, America ...

(2007). He was president of the People Management Association of the Philippines in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coloma, Herminio Jr. 1953 births Living people Asian Institute of Management alumni Benigno Aquino III administration cabinet members Manila Bulletin people People from Quezon City Secretaries of the Presidential Communications Office University of the Philippines Diliman alumni