Palace names Palabrica as new SEC commissioner

Malacañang has appointed lawyer Raul Palabrica as associate commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to replace Fe Eloisa Gloria whose term had recently expired.

Sources said Palabrica’s appointment papers were signed last March 18.

Palabrica, a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, was formerly vice-president for legal affairs of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

The SEC, the business regulatory agency in the country, is headed by its chairperson Fe Barin and four commissioners Joselia Poblador, Juanita Cueto and Jesus Martinez.

Gloria’s appointment as commissioner in 1991 recognized her experience and training as well as length of public service in the SEC. She served a second term as commissioner, having been reappointed in 1998.

Gloria started her career in public service at the SEC in 1972, as assistant attorney and was shortly designated chief of the Legal Research and Special Service Division of the Corporate and Legal Department. She was appointed the first director of the Supervision and Monitoring Department when it was created in 1982.

The SEC regulates all the registered companies, including pre-need firms, publicly-listed companies and financial firms. It generates revenues from the registration and filing fees as well as the monetary penalties it imposed on companies that fail to comply with disclosure and filing requirements. It also oversees the operations of the stock exchange.

Among the SEC’s top priority programs this year would be sustaining reforms in corporate governance, strengthening its supervisory role over finance companies and sustaining its financial performance.