Biography
A public interest lawyer with forty years of experience with government, non-governmental legal service organizations, the private sector, international development organizations and the academe.
Currently the Senior Adviser on Access to Justice in the Justice Sector Reform Programme: Governance in Justice (GOJUST II) in the Philippines, implemented by the British Council/ United Nations Office for Project Services and funded by the European Union (2020-2025). Mainly responsible for managing a grant programme for civil society organizations and the law schools to promote legal empowerment, alternative dispute resolution and clinical legal education.
Finished Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines (1980) and a member of the Philippine Bar. Graduated from Harvard Kennedy School (1998) with a Master in Public Administration.
Worked as a senior government official (Assistant Secretary and Undersecretary) managing the legal affairs of the Department of Agrarian Reform for six years and chief legal counsel of the Department of Agriculture for two years.
Acted as Team Leader/ Project Director for eight years in various multi-year access to justice projects, managing an inter-cultural staff to deliver results in court annexed ADR, justice reform advocacy and community legal services in Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Active in the legal service NGO sector for ten years, working closely in the field of agrarian reform law and environmental law, and facilitated the formation of the Alternative Law Groups (ALG) a network of community oriented legal service organizations in the Philippines.