HWONFEX ASEAN Handshake: (Center) Wanda Tulfo Teo, Former DOT Secretary and Wellness Tourism Advocate; Macky Beltran-Soriano, Managing Director of HWONFEX; (L-R) Jerome Tumambing, Officer-In-Charge, Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC); Dr. Hernando Delizo, Director for Health and Wellness of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Clinica Manila; Catherine Turvill, Chair for Health and Wellness of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and President of Nurture Wellness Village; Dr. Prem Jagyasi, Internationally acclaimed consultant, speaker, and global authority on medical tourism, wellness resorts, and healthcare marketing; Dr. Honey Carandang, National Scientist and Founder of MLAC Institute for Psychosocial Services, Inc.; Ebb Hinchliffe, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham Philippines); Brigadier General Fatima Claire S. Navarro, Surgeon General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP); Dr. Janice A. Saraza, MD, Officer-in-Charge of the Health Services and Wellness Department of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR); Dr. Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., President and CEO of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The high-level ASEAN Health Tourism & Wellness Economy Summit officially commenced earlier this month, at the SMX Convention Center Manila, drawing a prestigious delegation of trade ministers, diplomatic envoys, corporate investors, and health leaders. Convening as an Official ASEAN Side Event under the theme “Go Explore, Grow Communities, and Glow Together,” the summit is co-presented by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and fully endorsed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The primary objective of the summit is to consolidate Southeast Asia’s fragmented health services, cross-border investment frameworks, and native agricultural supply chains into a unified, high-yield regional health and longevity economy.
Key Strategic Takeaways from the Summit Sessions
- The Ministerial Framework:The morning opened with a foundational policy briefing by Paulo Benito S. Tugbang (DOT Director for Health and Wellness Tourism), alongside critical regional support statements from DFA Undersecretary Leo M. Herrera-Lim (Philippine ASEAN Senior Official Meeting Leader), PCCI President Mr. Perry A. Ferrer, and ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines Chairman Mr. Jose Ma “Joey” Concepcion III [1.1].
- Driving High-Value Ecosystem Investments:Panel I unified regulatory and fiscal gatekeepers to unlock investor pathways into local infrastructure. Roberto Z. Zozobrado (General Manager/CEO of the Philippine Retirement Authority) detailed new Specialized Resident Retiree Visa (SRRV) policies designed to capture the global silver market. Concurrently, Mr. Emmanuel Cortero (PEZA Deputy Director General) mapped out institutional tax incentives and developer benefits for constructing state-of-the-art health zones and regional sports hubs.
- The Global Capability Blueprint:Former Undersecretary Nora Terrado delivered Plenary II, outlining the strategic roadmap to position the Philippines as the premier digital health and global capability hub for international healthcare tech firms.
- Integrating the Wellness Value Chain:Panel II connected market-driven demand to grassroots production, featuring Board of Investments (BOI) Director Francis Peñaflor, Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Ms. Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero, and PITAHC Director General Dr. Ma. Teresa C. Iñigo , who aligned local medical tourism infrastructure directly with indigenous traditional medicine standards .
- The ASEAN Plus Two Roadmap:Global benchmarks were set in Panel III by international diagnostics experts Junhyung Park (Director, Triohealix, Inc.) and Mr. Satoshi Geng (CEO, MedVigilance, Japan), who outlined how national policy frameworks can successfully utilize healthcare big data analytics, predictive tracking, and remote patient monitoring to scale modern longevity networks.
Anchoring Public Health as the Ultimate Social Safety Net
The summit’s core focus emphasized that national productivity and macroeconomic resilience are permanently tied to preventative, community-led healthcare.
Delivering the cornerstone keynote address, DSWD Secretary Rexlon Ting Gatchalian laid out the policy framework linking social welfare directly to public health and human capital preservation:
“A resilient economy cannot be built on reactive healthcare; it must be anchored on proactive wellness and the systemic protection of human capital,” stated DSWD Secretary Rexlon Ting Gatchalian. “By endorsing HWONFEX 2026 as an Official ASEAN Side Event, the DSWD recognizes that preventative health, nutritional sustainability, and holistic well-being serve as the ultimate social safety net for our people. True social development means shifting from simply managing vulnerabilities to actively empowering our grassroots workforce to thrive. When we bridge public welfare policy with high-value health trade, we build healthier local communities and elevate the entire ASEAN region into a unified, wealthy economic bloc.”
Commercial Momentum & Public Access
The high-level policy dialogues directly translated into live business transactions through the concurrent B2B Business Matching channels, which operated throughout the day to connect international hosted buyers with regional suppliers.
While the premium Summit tracks brought together decision-makers inside the plenary rooms, the public gates opened for HilomX—the Philippine Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) eXposition—and the main trade floor, which remain completely free to the public to encourage grassroots wellness access.
The summit concludes tomorrow with resolutions and a structured framework for regional action presented by PCCI Director for Health and Wellness, Dr. Hernando B. Delizo.
Event partners and supporters include Institutional Lead Philippine Chamber Of Commerce And Industry (PCCI) and co-presented by Wellness Tourism Association Of The Philippines (WeTAP); in Major Partnership with the Department Of Agriculture, Department Of Agriculture PhilFIDA, Department Of Social Welfare And Development, Department Of Tourism (DOT), Philippine Institute Of Traditional And Alternative Health Care, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW); in Minor Partnership with the Philippine Amusement And Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), Tourism Promotions Board (TPB); Official Host Venue of the ASEAN Delegation – Newport World Resorts; and Official Culinary & Hospitality Partner – Treston International College.
Moreover, the elite corporate sponsor roster is led by Platinum Sponsors Castle Rock and IAM Worldwide, alongside Gold Corporate Sponsor Biovitalis, Silver Corporate Sponsors Enjoy Health, Glorious Industrial and Development Corporation (GIDC), JC Premiere, Nurture Wellness Village, Surge Fitness, Zen Institute, NaHeal; Summit Sponsors Health Design, Noble Life International, and Philexport; and Wellness Run Partners Birch Tree Fortified, Gardenia, Hobe, Mr. Freeze, Nature’s Spring, and Taytay Municipal Government.
Furthermore, Event Partners supporting this endeavor includes Alliance Of Local Artisans, Food And Other Producers Of The Philippines (ALAFOP), American Chamber Of Commerce Philippines (AmCham), Diago Consultancy, Digital Circles Marketing Services, East West, Exlink Events, Human Resource Educators’ Association Of The Philippines, Inc. (HREAP), IQ Capture, Market Social, Maxwell Leadership Philippines, Naheal, Oikos Sustainable Solutions Inc., Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Inc. (PHOA), Philippine Marketing Association (PMA), Philippine Tour Operators Association, Inc. (Philtoa), United Ube Association, Wellgather, and St. Paul University Quezon City; Media Partners Asian Journal, Balikbayan Magazine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Standard, Business Mirror, The Manila Times, ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, Wheninmanila.com, Asian Dragon Magazine, Good News Manila, Powered to Wellness, Business Traveller Asia-Pacific, Global Travel Media, Islands Philippines, Lead Society/Lead Media News, MICE & Tourism Around The World, Amazing Manila Journal, Travel and Tour World, and Travel Daily Media; Advocacy Partners Christians For Nation Building Inc. (C4nb), MLAC Institute For Psychosocial Services, Inc., and Rise Against Hunger; and Supported By City Of Manila, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), Philippine National Police, Anya Resort Tagaytay, Good Food Farm, House of Gaia, Las Caidas Wellness Resort, and Sonya’s Secret Garden.
About HWONFEX
HWONFEX is the premier regional platform for holistic health, wellness innovation, and structural convergence within the ASEAN wellness economy. Grounded as an Official ASEAN Side Event, endorsed by the DSWD, and co-presented by PCCI, it bridges public policy, natural medicine ecosystems, and international trade lines into scalable regional assets.
Media Contact: www.wellnessconfex.com
