Manulife Philippines has appointed Erica Jurilla Santos as Chief Operations Officer, placing operations, customer experience, and business transformation under a new leadership structure as the insurer continues to strengthen its service capabilities.
Santos assumed the role on September 15, 2026 and joins the Manulife Philippines Executive Committee. She will oversee the company’s operations strategy, including service delivery, operational performance, digital adoption, and customer-focused innovation.
The appointment highlights the growing role of operations in insurance, where customer and advisor experiences increasingly depend on how efficiently organizations manage processes, technology, people, and service channels.
Santos brings more than 20 years of operations experience
Santos has more than two decades of leadership experience spanning insurance, contact center, and back-office operations.
Her areas of expertise include service delivery, workforce strategy, financial governance, vendor management, customer experience, and operational transformation.
She joined Manulife Business Processing Services in 2022. Before taking on her new position, she led a 600-full-time-equivalent organization supporting Manulife’s U.S. insurance business across new business, policy administration, and life and health claims.
That experience gives her responsibility for operations at both the process and customer-experience levels, particularly as insurers continue to balance efficiency with increasingly digital customer and distribution journeys.
Why operations matters to the insurance customer experience
For insurance companies, operations often sits behind many of the interactions customers and financial advisors experience directly.
Policy applications, administration, claims, customer inquiries, and other service processes depend on systems and teams working together consistently.
This makes operational transformation more than an internal efficiency exercise. Changes in workflows, technology adoption, workforce planning, and service processes can affect how quickly and easily customers and distribution partners complete everyday transactions.
For Manulife Philippines, Santos' mandate includes strengthening these capabilities while supporting the company's broader business transformation efforts.
Manulife focuses on service delivery and digital adoption
According to Manulife Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Rahul Hora, Santos' experience in transformation, operational resilience, process efficiency, and talent development will support the company's efforts to improve service for customers and distribution partners.
The company also points to digital adoption and operational performance as priorities under Santos' leadership.
Her role therefore extends beyond maintaining day-to-day operations. It includes developing ways of working that can support a more responsive service organization as customer expectations and distribution models evolve.
Santos: Building simpler and more responsive operations
Santos said operations plays an important role in shaping both customer and advisor experiences.
In her new role, she plans to work with Manulife Philippines teams to develop simpler and more responsive ways of working while supporting the company's growth.
The focus on agility and customer-centered operations reflects a broader shift in financial services toward reducing friction in customer journeys and making internal processes better aligned with digital channels.
For Manulife Philippines, the appointment puts an experienced operations leader at the center of efforts to connect service delivery, technology adoption, people development, and business transformation.
As insurance becomes increasingly digital, the effectiveness of these operational systems can influence not only how companies work internally but also how customers and distribution partners experience the business.