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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, has been serving as the

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

for

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

'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 and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

from 2015 to 2016 in the administration of President

Benigno Aquino III 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 from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

. 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 be ...

. As a congresswoman, she focused on various health issues such as curbing fraud in

PhilHealth The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was created in 1995 to implement universal health coverage in the Philippines. It is a tax-exempt, government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) of the Philippines, and is attached to ...

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 provided universal access to methods on contracept ...

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

Biography

Garin graduated ''cum laude'' with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology at the Divine World University in

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, ...

. She was an academic scholar at St. Luke's College of Medicine. She transferred and completed her Doctor of Medicine at the Iloilo Doctors' College. At the same time she served as a board member in the Province of Leyte. She also had two years of residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Iloilo Doctor's Hospital. She served as board member of the Province of Iloilo for 6 years. Garin was elected as the first Filipino board member to the Parliamentary Network on the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

(PNoWB) during its Sixth Annual Conference held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on October 21–22, 2005. She was re-elected to this post to the following conference in Paris. Garin has also represented the Philippines in various conferences conducted by the

Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development The Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) is a regional non-governmental organization (NGO) that serves as a coordinating body of 29 National Committees of Parliamentarians on Population and Development in Asia-Paci ...

(AFPPD).

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 a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

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