Manulife Philippines has appointed Erica Jurilla Santos as chief operations officer, effective 15 September, the insurer said in a statement.
Santos first joined Manulife Business Processing Services in 2022, most recently leading a 600-FTE organisation supporting Manulife’s US insurance operations across new business, policy administration, and life and health claims.
She has over 20 years’ leadership experience across insurance, contact centre, and back-office operations, with deep expertise in service delivery, workforce strategy, financial governance, vendor management, customer experience, and operational transformation.
In her new role, Santos will join the executive committee and lead its operations strategy, focusing on operational performance, digital adoption, service delivery and customer-focused initiatives.
Rahul Hora, Manulife Philippines’ president and chief executive officer, said that Santos is a “highly experienced operations leader with a strong track record in transformation, operational resilience, process efficiency, and talent development.”
This appointment adds to a wave of recent distribution and leadership changes within Manulife’s Asia operations. On Tuesday, Manulife Philippines appointed Ganesh Kumar Murugesan as chief information officer. This followed last month’s appointment of Jeremy Young as chief distribution officer, international brokerage, Global High-Net-Worth. In July, Manulife Malaysia hired Sook Yann Lee as chief partnership distribution officer, while Manulife Hong Kong and Macau promoted Carrie Tong to chief distribution officer.
In December 2025, Manulife launched a new AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore, looking to expand its regional, tech-trained talent base over the upcoming three years.
