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As Commissioner, I served as the Philippines’ Lead Negotiator in the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In many of the
negotiations rounds of the UNFCCC, I served as Head of Delegation for the
Philippines. In 2013, I was elected as the Co-Chair of the UNFCCC’s Long-Term
Finance (LTF) Work Programme, which tackled the starkly important issue of
climate finance as a crucial means of implementation for global climate action and
climate adaptation.
Before being appointed as Commissioner, I have been a working with local
communities and international bodies since 1996, focused on domestic and
international issues that relate to climate change, clean energy, biodiversity, coastal
and marine resources, tourism, disaster risk reduction and local governance. I was
also part of a team that actively worked on the development of programs on
adaptation of marine ecosystems and coastal communities to climate change and the
development of clean and renewable energy for the country. I likewise served as the
National Director of the Earth Hour campaign in the Philippines from 2008-2010.
After five (5) years in public service, I went back to working within civil society. I
am currently employed as the Executive Director of Greenpeace - Southeast Asia.
Greenpeace is an independent environmental campaigning organization which uses
non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to
force the solutions, which are essential to a green and peaceful future. In this role, I
lead the diverse operations of Greenpeace across Southeast Asia.
I also served as Spiritual Ambassador for OurVoices, a call to people of faith
and moral belief, across the world, to engage on the issue of climate change.
OurVoices is an international, multi-faith campaign for strong climate action and
climate justice. As part of this work, I was appointed Pilgrim Leader of The People’s
Pilgrimage, a special journey that highlights communities confronting climate
impacts but manifesting resilience and spiritual strength. From the Philippines, this
journey brought me to Vanuatu, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, India, and
culminated in a 1,500 kilometer walk from Rome to Paris from September to
December 2015. I also took the role of the Pilgrim Leader of The Climate
Pilgrimage, a journey on foot from Rome to Katowice from October to December
2018. All of these combined to my experience of bearing witness to climate change
impacts in the Arctic region, Latin America, North America, Africa, the Pacific
Islands, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
I currently serve as a Board Member of the Global Catholic Climate Movement.
I am also a member of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice. I serve as the
Environmental Adviser for the Archdiocese of Manila’s Ministry on Ecology.
I am also a wildlife photographer, and an avid scuba diver since 1997 with over
2,000 individual logged dives and over 1,000 snorkeling swims majority of which
were in The Philippines, but also in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and
Australia. I have travelled to all regions of the Philippines in the course of the past
25 years.