The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) was recognized with the Silver Trailblazer Award during the 2025 Public Governance Forum of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), held on June 24, 2025, at Novotel Manila Araneta City, Quezon City.
The award was conferred following the successful conduct of its Performance Governance System (PGS) Initiation Stage Revalida.
“To stay true to our mandate, protecting Filipinos against infectious and tropical diseases, we must transform. This is what fuels our resolve to fully embrace this journey of transformation – not of obligation, but of purpose; not because it is required, but because it is essential. The health of our nation depends on it,” said RITM Director Atty. Ana Liza Hombrando-Duran, MD, FPPS, MMHoA, MMPHA as she presented the Institute’s progress and milestones along the PGS Initiation pathway.
During her presentation, Dir. Duran outlined the Institute’s strategic direction toward becoming the country’s premier national public health institute, equipped with world-class research capabilities and a strong leadership role in infectious disease detection, prevention, and control.
Among its initial accomplishments is the pursuit of an RITM Modernization Law, which she said lays the foundation for long-term impact.
“Our active involvement in the Initiation Stage of the PGS pathway serves a clear declaration of our long-term plan to strategically elevate the delivery of RITM’s mandate in the service of the Filipino people,” said Dir. Duran.
The Silver Trailblazer recognition underscores RITM’s effective implementation of early-stage governance reforms, particularly in engaging internal teams and forging strong collaborations with external stakeholders to advance institutional excellence.
“Outbreaks are inevitable. The future will bring more uncertainty. More complexity. But with RITM as the National Public Health Institute for Infectious and Tropical Diseases – we can meet that future, prepared, united, and unwavering,” ended Dir. Duran.
The revalida panel was chaired by Department of Health UHC Health Services Cluster – Technical Office Director Frances Rose Mamaril, MPH, CESO III, and co-chaired by Dr. Jose B. Orosa III, Chief of Medical Professional Staff II at Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center.
Other panelists included Dr. Ernesto Bontuyan Jr. of USAID Philippines Office of Health and Mr. Paul Ernest De Leon of the DOST Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.