MANILA - Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) President and Chief Executive Eduardo P. Banzon has resigned.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Banzon resigned Monday during a board meeting “due to personal and family reasons.” The resignation also became effective today.

He said Health Secretary Enrique Ona will be officer-in-charge of PhilHealth while Malacanang seeks a replacement for Banzon.

The news also comes on the heels of the resignation of National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) Benito Ramos, who said he already has to attend to his ailing wife.

Before his stint as chief of PhilHealth in 2011, Banzon was also a senior specialist of the World Bank.

He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and took his MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. - from a report by Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News