Manulife Philippines has appointed Erica Jurilla Santos as chief operations officer, effective Sept. 15, as the insurer moves to strengthen operational capabilities and accelerate business transformation.
Santos will join the company’s Executive Committee and oversee its operations strategy, with a focus on service excellence, operational performance, digital adoption, and customer-focused innovation.
“Erica is a highly experienced operations leader with a strong track record in transformation, operational resilience, process efficiency, and talent development,” Manulife Philippines President and CEO Rahul Hora said.
Santos brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across insurance, contact center, and back-office operations, with expertise spanning service delivery, workforce strategy, customer experience, and operational transformation.
She joined Manulife Business Processing Services in 2022 and most recently led a 600-employee organization supporting Manulife’s US insurance business.
Her team handled new business, policy administration, and life and health claims, giving Santos extensive experience in managing large-scale insurance operations and service delivery.
Santos said she would focus on building “stronger, simpler, and more responsive ways of working” for customers and distribution teams.
Her appointment comes as insurers face growing pressure to improve customer service while adopting digital tools and streamlining increasingly complex operations.
For Manulife Philippines, the expanded operations leadership is expected to support efforts to improve service delivery, strengthen execution, and make technology and process improvements more responsive to customers and its distribution network.
