THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) welcomed its new president and chief operating officer, lawyer Wilma Eisma, who took her oath of office before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in Malacañang on Thursday, April 18.

"We are happy to welcome Atty. Wilma Eisma as Pagcor's new president and COO. We know she will be a great asset, and her vast experience in both the government and private sectors will surely be put to good use here," Chairman Alejandro Tengco said.

Tengco said he witnessed Eisma's oathtaking in Malacañang on Thursday morning. She then immediately joined her first Pagcor board meeting in the afternoon as the agency's first-ever woman president and COO.

A lawyer by profession, Eisma earned her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and was a member of the board of directors of the Development Bank of the Philippines before joining the state gaming firm.

Prior to that, she also served as the first woman administrator and chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Her private sector stints include leadership roles in PMFTC Inc., the Philippine affiliate of Philip Morris International.

She also held key positions at the Department of Trade and Industry, where she worked at the Office of the Secretary and in the Office of the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, among others.

Eisma succeeded Juanito Sanosa Jr., who resigned as Pagcor president and COO last January.