SUBIC BAY

MD honored SBMA best employee of 2024
Nov 20, 2025

Subic Bay Freeport—A medical doctor received the highest honors as Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)’s recognized outstanding employees during the Employee of the Year 2024 Awards Ceremony.
 
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño lead the awards ceremony and welcomed guests and awardees to the event.
 
“Our finalists, chosen through a rigorous process, truly embody what it means to be a breed apart. Employees who go beyond routine, think outside of the box, and serve with creativity, integrity, and compassion. Public service is both a responsibility and an honor. It is not defined by rank nor title, but by the trust we uphold, and the excellence we bring to even the smallest task. Transparency, accountability, and dedication are the values that elevate the ordinary work into extraordinary service,” Aliño said.  
 
Dr. Arlene Cesa of the Support Services Group, a Medical Officer IV and officer-in-charge of the Medical Division of the Public Health and Safety Department, was named SBMA Employee of the Year (EOY) 2024-Category 2 during the awards ceremony held at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) on November 17.  
 
In her acceptance speech, Cesa accepted the award not only for herself as an individual, but for her entire department.
 
“This is not about one person, but about the whole of Public Health and Safety Group, particularly the Health and Safety Department, in both creation and redemption. When we offer our daily efforts in union with the Lord, our profession becomes more than labor. It becomes a way to sanctify the world,” Cesa said.
 
“The journey of becoming a health care professional humbles us. We can encounter human sufferings, face our own limitations, and realize we can’t fix everything. And that’s okay. That awareness makes us more approachable, more compassionate, more humane. Humility makes us more humane, and our patients will feel that. Our patients will not only remember our medical knowledge. But they will definitely remember how we made them feel,” Cesa added.
 
Cesa is well-known in the agency for her calm demeanor towards patients and her colleagues, as she demonstrates a team-player mentality.

In the span of 24 years in the agency, it has been her practice to accommodate patients even when off-duty, stay beyond working hours when needed, and even volunteer as a reliever for her colleagues.
 
Her bottomless source of energy has pushed several health-related projects to be implemented by the department, such as the quarterly health caravan, which is an information campaign involving SBMA employees and SBF stakeholders alike, as part of the agency's bid to secure certification of
ISO 45001:2018, or the Occupational Health and Safety International Standards.
 
Other contenders in the Category 2 were Julious Macam of the Chairman & Administrator’s Group, Beatrix Anagaran of the Business & Investment Group, Librado Canara, Jr. of the Operations Group, Roderic Grueso of the Public Services Group, and Rossell Abuyo of the Regulatory Group.
 
Meanwhile, Helen Castillones of the Regulatory Group bagged the EOY 2024 in Category 1.
 
Catillones holds a Secretary I position in the Ecology Center, and does overall administrative tasks for the department. But she also works in the Policy and Monitoring or Waste Management Division. Despite the tasks at hand, she finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Office Management in August 2024.
 
She became a finalist for taking charge of the regular recycling day in housing areas in the Subic Freeport in Binictican, Kalayaan and Cubi. She also initiated the department’s digitization of records and trained personnel from the Pastolan Forest Conservation Group on filing and data management.
 
Other contenders in Category 1 were Grace Encina of the Chairman & Administrator’s Group, Cresencia Maulas of the Business & Investment Group, Marifel Sazon of the Operations Group, Marjorie Anne Tiania of the Public Services Group, and Sheila Mae Mari of the Support Services Group.
 
The EOY 2024 Awards ceremony was followed by the Loyalty Awards ceremony, where 175 service awardees were recognized, including a posthumous awardee. These awardees include employees who served the agency for ten years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, and 30 years.

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