Carlito Espino Balita is an education entrepreneur and a registered nurse and midwife. He is the founder of Carl E. Balita Review Center, a major review center with 120 local and overseas branches.
Carl Balita is the president of Asian Academy for Applied Entrepreneurship and director of the Spotlight Artist Center. He is also the movie producer behind Nars released in 2007 and Maestra released in 2017.
“I offer my experience in leading quality organizations, my higher education, the network I have built across critical sectors, and my willingness to find meaning in the experiences of the most vulnerable sectors hit by this pandemic disruption.”
CARLITO “CARL” ESPINO BALITA PROFILE
Full Name: Carlito Espino Balita
Nickname: Carl
Birthdate: Apr. 10, 1970 (Age 54)
Birthplace: Makati, Metro Manila
Gender: Male
Province: Oriental Mindoro
Spouse: Married, Dr. Lyne Balita, pediatrician
Children: Four children (including Lyza Balita)
Profession/Occupation: Nurse/Midwife/Teacher
EDUCATION:
- Executive Program in International Management, Stanford University-National University of Singapore, 2019
- Master of Arts in Nursing, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Santo Tomas, 1991
HONORARY DEGREES:
- Honoris Causa, Doctor of Humanities, Lorma Colleges, 2007
WORK EXPERIENCE:
- Member, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Education Task Force, current
- Chairman, PCCI-Basic Education Committee, current
- Dean, Dominican College, 2004 – 2008
- Chairman of CEB Group of Companies, 2007 – Present
CEB Companies include Dr. Carl Balita Review Center, Mahalta Resorts and Convention Center, Pedagogy Learning Center, Little Lambs Kids Spa, Ultimate Learning Series Publication, Ultimate Creatives, LYF Center Inc., FiorCafe, Cebal Center for Manpower Development and Research, DREAM Inc.
- Host of “Radio Negosyo”, 2001 – 2021
- Director/Faculty, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 1993 – 1997
Carl Balita is a registered nurse and midwife, educator, broadcaster and entrepreneur who is most popularly known for his education enterprise Carl E. Balita Review Center.
In addition to his myriad of business and artistic interests, Balita is an advocate for health professionals, the education sector and business.
This is Balita’s first candidacy, joining Aksyon Demokratiko, inspired by party stalwarts Raul Roco, the late senator, and Jimmy Galvez-Tan who share his education and health professional backgrounds. He urges transfusion of “the science of evidence and data-driven governance into the old art of politics” and claims that his multi-field background and experience will allow him to craft laws to lead to a “better normal” post-pandemic Philippines. He is likewise banking on his extensive network across the health, education and business sectors to propel him to the Senate, positioning himself as the sole nurse-midwife-teacher-MSME representative in the upper chamber.
Balita’s platform revolves around three Ks: Kalusugan, Kabuhayan, and Karunungan, vowing to address the health, education, and economic crises that are currently devastating the country. He supports the full implementation of the Universal Health Care Act and the availability of the local resources due to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling to properly address the issue of scarcity of medical and healthcare professionals. He is also promoting the full engagement and participation of the private sector, both in the education and health sectors, believing that the private sector has been“left behind” and can be revitalized through an empowering rather than a purely regulatory approach by the government.
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Carl Balita is a board-certified nurse, midwife and teacher, parlaying this background into various education-driven investments.
Carl Balita established the biggest review center in the Philippines, the 14-year Dr. Carl E. Balita Review Center, with more than 300 local and international branches. It is the first ISO 9001:2015 certified business in its field and is among the top franchises in the country. When Balita estimates the scope of his network through this avenue, he imputes a “multiplier effect” on “close to a million” professionals his review center has helped.
Among the projects that combine his enterprising and advocacy sides is the Pedagogy Learning Center, a play and pre-school children center that offers a curriculum designed by Balita. This design includes the most basic elements of doing business, an early introduction that he wants to implement in all kindergarten school curricula.
Apart from his business enterprises, Balita is also a radio talk show host, author and columnist, business professor and motivational speaker. Through his long-running radio-turned-cable show, “Radyo Negosyo”, he engaged with and provided guidance to aspiring and striving business owners who run MSMEs. This exposure coupled with his commercial success with CBRC led to establishing close ties to the business community.
He is also the publisher and author of “The Ultimate Learning Guide to Nursing Review and Ultimate Testing Guide to Nursing Review” and co-author of “Theoretical Foundations of Nursing: The Philippine Perspective along with the former Board of Nursing Chair” with Dr. Eufemia Octaviano, along with other learning materials. Additionally, he is the film producer of Aldof Alix’s “Nars” (2007) and Lem Lorca’s “Maestra” (2017).
PLATFORM AND POLICY:
HEALTH; Eliminate the healthcare crisis:
- Fix the execution and budget of the Universal Healthcare Law
- Passing the “Omnibus Positive Practice Environment”, including the security of tenure rights, to encourage healthcare workers to remain in the country
- Strategic direction and investments in education in the form of scholarships and subsidies for all educational institutions offering health science courses
- Create and fill-up plantilla positions for various nursing positions based on nurse-patient ratio that is scientifically based on acuity of care
- Assess need to appoint a National Chief Nurse in the Department of Health
- PhilHealth must be an institution that enables and empowers, rather than regulates and penalizes, private healthcare institutions
- Explore need for government subsidy the private hospitals, especially in human resource development, to cushion the increasing cost of health care
- Establish a Super Health Center and Specialty Hospital to provide quality medical services, including mental health services
- Hire a nurse at every school and barangay and a midwife at every barangay to provide primary health care
LIVELIHOOD:
- Increase lending to MSMEs
- Increase support for rural development
- Improve transactions with government through digitization
- Establish a Department of Overseas Filipinos to address their needs until return to the country
- Establish a Crisis Management Commission to prepare for coming calamities
EDUCATION:
- Address the low passing rate of professional board exams by digitizing the said exam in order to have more frequent test takers within a year
- Reinstatement of the Congressional Commission to Review and Assess Philippine education, to evaluate the K to 12 and create a more comprehensive approach to post-pandemic education
- Provide for free: a. gadgets to all students and WIFI in public places b. tax-free for micro-enterprises and low-middle income earners (less than P100k) c. Free training with allowance to unemployed d. Free CPD sources of professionals e. Remove or decrease interest rates for capital loans to MSMEs and those who want to study f. Free and computerized board licensure exams
- Increase pay of public and private sector workers, including teachers and health-care workers
- Increase support for private schools and scholarships for private students
- Increase budget for education, agriculture, science and technology
- Reform of DOH and PhilHealth for productiveness and to avoid anomalies and corruption
- Free food at kinder to grade 3 level sourced from local agricultural producers to end worsening malnutrition problem
- Teach new methods for GMRC classes
