Congratulations to former UE Vice Chairman and incumbent Board of Trustees Member Jaime J. Bautista, one of the longtime leaders of the University of the East, on being appointed by President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the incoming new Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr)!
Mr. Bautista was UE Vice Chairman of the Board from July 2002 until his retirement in September 2019. He has been and remains a Member of the UE Board of Trustees since May 1991. He is likewise a Member of the Board of Trustees of the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Inc. (UERMMMCI).
A native of Cabanatuan City in the province of Nueva Ecija, Mr. Bautista is a certified public accountant by profession who had earned his degree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce, major in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, in 1977 from Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila, on an accounting scholarship. He was conferred the Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa, by Central Luzon State University in 2018.
He is likewise an incumbent member of the Board of Directors of Cosco Capital Inc., the Philippine Bank of Communication, Alphaland Corporation, Airspeed International Corporation, Gothong Southern Shipping Corporation, and the International School of Sustainable Tourism. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Board of the Philippine Eagle Foundation.
Mr. Bautista’s long and storied professional and managerial career features various key positions in several corporations. But he is best known for his leadership stint at Philippine Airlines, Inc., where he rose within the ranks to ultimately become PAL President and Chief Operating Officer for two terms: in 2004 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2019. In 2018, Philippine Airlines became certified as a 4-star airline by international air transport rating organization Skytrax, making the flag carrier the first and only carrier in the Philippines to achieve that rating.
Mr. Bautista’s PAL stint had resulted in several awards, including as Orient Aviation Magazine’s Person of the Year 2007 and as one of People Asia magazine’s People of the Year 2010. Many would remember seeing then Philippine Airlines President Bautista accompanying then Philippine visitor Pope Francis on the latter’s PAL flight back to Rome, Italy, on January 19, 2015.
As Department of Transportation Secretary, Mr. Bautista is expected to oversee various projects and concerns involving public transportation and the railway, aviation, and maritime sectors.
Congratulations and best wishes on your DOTr appointment, Warrior Trustee Jaime J. Bautista!