San Diego Port Board welcomes its first Filipino commissioner

GilAnthony Ungab / Port of San Diego website

SAN DIEGO – The Port of San Diego Friday welcomed GilAnthony Ungab, its first Filipino American commissioner, following his appointment by the National City Council.

“I look forward to working with Commissioner Ungab to advance and implement the National City Balanced Plan which will expand public park space and provide new commercial recreation opportunities for visitors and the community as well as improve maritime operations for our working waterfront businesses,” said Frank Urtasun, Chairman of Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners.

“Additionally, his perspective and experience as a medical physician and community advocate will be invaluable as we continue improving public health and air quality through our electrification efforts as part of our Maritime Clean Air Strategy.”

The Board of Port Commissioners – the agency tasked with governing 34 miles of state tidelands along the San Diego Bay – is governed by a seven- member board, of which three members are appointed by the San Diego City Council and one each is appointed by the city councils of Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City. The body sets policies for how the port conducts operations.

According to the port, Ungab is a National City native and the first Filipino to serve on the board. He is a retired private practice cardiac electrophysiologist and former medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.

He served as a member on research and development committees at Boston Scientific, St Jude and Biotronik. Dr. Ungab is co-founder and chief medical officer for Lucia Health Guidelines, which applies artificial intelligence to advance guideline-based treatment focused on atrial fibrillation and stroke prevention. Commissioner Ungab was also a co-founder of Geneva Healthcare Solutions, a cloud based remote data monitoring company.

Ungab replaces Port Commissioner Sandy Naranjo, who was removed from the position by her city council by a 3-2 vote in May, seven months after her official censuring by the San Diego Board of Port Commissioners for alleged malfeasance.

Naranjo was tasked over alleged violations of The Brown Act, California’s law that guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.

The accusations claimed Naranjo withheld information from the board regarding her claims against a district employee, failed to cooperate in disclosing external financial engagements and “breached her fiduciary duty of loyalty when (she) acted in furtherance of her own personal self interests in retaliating against a district employee for doing their job at the expense of the district’s best interests,” a resolution from the port board at the time read. (With CNS report)