Program Staff - Short Biographies
Canadian Field Director, Philippines
Marion Villanueva is the Canadian Field Director for the CIDA-funded Local Government Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines, which is managed by CUI in partnership with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. Based in Manila, she is responsible for the overall management of LGSP-LED and its team in the Philippines and for providing technical assistance in the themes of the program. The aim of LGSP-LED is to reduce poverty and support sustainable local economic development. Marion Villanueva is a seasoned capacity development and governance professional with more than 20 years of international development experience. She was the program field manager for CIDA’s flagship Local Government Support Program Phase II (LGSP II) in the Philippines from 2000–2005, then the Local Governance Support Program in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (LGSPA) from 2005 to the present. She has in-depth knowledge of institutional development and public policy issues related to governance reform, decentralization and post-conflict environments, and extensive project management experience in NGO capacity development and participatory rural development. With a strong background in results-based management, Marion has designed and implemented many institution-building programs in a wide variety of sectors. She has managed projects that have contributed to poverty alleviation through community-based resource management and empowerment. In addition, Marion has 12 years of experience with social research, policy analysis, community development and advocacy. She has a Master of Science Degree in Community Development and Bachelor of Science in Social Work (both from the University of the Philippines) She speaks English, and has working knowledge of Hiligaynon and Cebuano.
Contact Marion: mvillanueva@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Associate Field Director, Philippines
Francis Gentoral is the Associate Field Director for the CIDA-funded Local Government Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines. He has 20 years experience working in the public, private and non-profit sectors in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in participatory program design and in results-based management for local economic, environmental, and governance initiatives. His areas of experience include local government capacity building, sustainable development planning, regional economic strategy development, partnership building, intergovernmental cooperation and knowledge management. Prior to joining the LGSP-LED, he was the Regional Manager for the Urban Partnerships Program Philippines (UPPP), funded by CIDA’s Canadian Partnership Branch. In this role, he oversaw three projects in the Western Visayas region and shared successful CUI project experiences in the Philippines as national best-practice models on metropolitan governance, tourism planning and local economic development. Mr. Gentoral holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Agustin (Philippines) and Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Agribusiness) from West Visayas State University (Philippines). He is fluent in English, Tagalog and Hiligaynon.
Contact Francis: fgentoral@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
National Enabling Environment Program Manager, Philippines
Based in Manila, Evelyn Jiz is responsible for managing the national-level policy work of the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) and its application locally. She has over 15 years experience in successfully managing CIDA-funded local governance projects in the Philippines. As CIDA Regional Advisor, Regional/ Area Manager and National Program Coordinator of LGSP I, LGSP II and LGSP Extension, she was responsible for managing the project, coordinating with various stakeholders, and ensuring the mainstreaming of CIDA’s crosscutting themes of Gender Equality, Environment, Poverty Reduction as well as Peace and Unity. Both LGSP I and II had LED components such as Enterprise Planning, Local Public Economic Enterprise (LPEE), Local Alliances for Economic Development and Community-Based Eco-tourism. During the Extension phase, Evelyn was National Program Coordinator as well as Policy Advisor to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) Leagues. For DILG, she provided technical assistance in the review and rationalization of devolution and identified functions of the National Government that should further be devolved. Her contribution to LGUs involved working with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in strengthening the capacity of the League of Municipalities and Cities (LMP and LCP) in policy development and advocacy through working on issues such as the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Act and review of the Local Government Code. During that time, she was also part of the subcommittee responsible for the Decentralization and Local Governments of the Philippine Development Forum (PDF). After LGSP, she was a business development officer at the International Finance Corporation, Private Enterprise Project (PEP). She holds degrees in Arts and Law from the University of San Agustin as well as a Masters of Public Administration from the University of the Philippines. She has taught courses in political science, law and management. She is a member of the Philippine Bar, and has fluency in English, Tagalog and Hiligaynon as well as has a working knowledge of Cebuano.
Contact Evelyn: ejiz@lgps-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
LED and Local Governance Program Manager, Philippines
Randi Alampay manages the LED and Local Governance component of the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines. As Program Manager, he supervises LGSP-LED’s work with selected alliances of local government units (LGUs) in various regions of the Philippines. His areas of expertise are on sustainable development, regional economic development, research and statistics, and strategic management. Prior to joining LGSP-LED, he taught and conducted research for more than 15 years at the University of the Philippines as a member of the tourism faculty. In addition, he was a principal and Senior Consultant at Asia Pacific Projects, Inc., where he worked on various regional cooperation projects in various parts of Asia such as the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC), as well as on sustainable tourism planning projects with national and local government agencies in various provinces of the Philippines. Randi has a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Resources from Michigan State University. He also earned a Master of Professional Studies in Travel Industry Management from the University of Hawaii, where he was an East-West Center scholar. He is fluent in Filipino and English.
Contact Randi: ralampay@lgps-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Financial Manager, Philippines
As the Financial Manager of Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED), Rebecca Ongtangco is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the project office’s financial systems. Prior to joining LGSP-LED, Rebecca held the position of Finance and Administration Specialist/Manager as well as Program Officer for Gender and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) with the CIDA-funded Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages (PEARL2) project in Makati City. She brings to the team extensive experience in financial, grants and administrative management of internationally funded projects and private enterprises. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a major in Accounting, and is a Certified Public Accountant. She speaks fluent English and Tagalog.
Contact Becky: rongtangco@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Finance Officer, Philippines
Mercy Joveres provides support in the financial management of the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED). Before joining the LGSP-LED, Mercy held the position of Finance Officer with the Philippines-Canada Cooperation Office (PCCO) for almost 12 years. She graduated from the University of the East with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, major in Accounting. She speaks fluent English and Tagalog
Contact Mercy: mjoveres@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +63 2914-3707 to 08
Communication Specialist, Philippines
As Communication Specialist, Sef Carandang is responsible for ensuring that LGSP-LED progress, results, gains and lessons learned are shared; and that the Program contributes to an increasing public awareness and understanding of sustainable LED and good governance in the country. She has had successful experiences in working with other CIDA-funded local governance projects in the Philippines since 2003, where she provided program communication support to key focus areas such as local government management, resource generation and mobilization, service delivery, and participatory governance. Sef also worked as a freelance Knowledge Management (KM) consultant, contributing to the design and implementation of a number of KM and organizational learning initiatives such as the Documentation and Replication of Exemplary Health Practices (of LGUs) for the Department of Health, a project funded by the World Health Organization and the GTZ Health Program; a KM Status Report and Roadmap for the GTZ Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (SMEDSEP); and the Development of a Knowledge Management Strategy for the Commission on Population. She was also a knowledge product development specialist and editor for select publications of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance (INCITEGov). Sef has had the opportunity to work with large, multi-cultural organizations both in the Philippines and in Australia. She is an Economics graduate from the University of the Philippines. She is fluent in English and Tagalog, and has working knowledge of Hiligaynon and Cebuano.
Contact Sef: scarandang@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Program Officer, Philippines
As Program Officer, Catherine Racho facilitates and coordinates strategic planning and key capacity development activities for LGSP-LED, including monitoring and evaluation of progress and results, and maintenance of Program-related information system. She provides support to both LGU/Alliance and national level initiatives. She started her career as a Researcher/Analyst and has worked in various government agencies, including the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Concurrent to her position as the Chief of the Enterprise Regulations Division in PEZA, she was assigned as Officer-in-Charge with a Zone Manager capacity for the Sarangani Economic Zone in Mindanao, where she handled the zone operations and administration of incentives to the sole locator, Dole Philippines, Inc. She was the Outreach and Replication Specialist of the Private Enterprises Accelerated Resource Linkage Phase II (PEARL2), a private sector development project of CIDA, which ended in 2007. She has also served as a panelist for the thesis defense of Business Administration students of San Beda College. Prior to her LGSP-LED involvement, she was the Managing Director of a start-up IT and business development company. She holds an undergraduate and Masters Degree in Public Administration majoring in Public Policy and Program Administration from the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines. She speaks English, Tagalog, and Ilocano and has working knowledge of Cebuano.
Contact Cathy: cracho@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Local Initiatives Coordinator, Philippines
Mary Jean Roxas works as Local Initiatives Coordinator for the Local Government Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines. Based in Manila, she is responsible for facilitating and coordinating the various LED projects of participating LGUs/Alliances of the Program. She has extensive experience in trade and industry development that includes positions with government and development organizations such as GIZ, JICA and UNDP. Her work spans areas such as project planning and implementation, industry/value chain analysis and formulation of strategies, business and enterprise development, institutional development, formation of multi-stakeholder collaboration, sector development coordination, and capacity building. Prior to joining LGSP-LED, she was employed with GIZ and was involved in projects such as the Promotion of Economic Cooperation in Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) where as Senior Adviser she provided support in increasing the region’s collective competitiveness in priority areas (i.e., tourism, mariculture and agriculture); the Private Sector Development Program where she facilitated the streamlining of business registration processes in selected LGUs; and the Promotion of Dual Education and Vocational Training Project where she was involved in programming and implementing peace building, community development and capacity building projects aimed at mainstreaming former Moro National Liberation Front fighters. With the Agriculture Credit Support Project of JICA, she was primarily responsible for introducing Value Chain Financing in the Landbank of the Philippines. For UNDP, she was involved in industry strengthening of priority export products of the country. Jean has a Masters Degree on Training and Change Management from the Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. She speaks fluent English and Tagalog.
Contact Jean: jroxas@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Program Coordinator, Philippines
As Program Coordinator, Tina Abella is responsible for providing senior-level support services to the Manila-based team of LGSP-LED, including project coordination, project administration, research, communication, report writing and events management. Prior to joining to LGSP-LED, Tina worked with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Mindanao Basic Urban Services Sector Project (MBUSSP) as Technical Assistant. In this role, she assisted in the establishment of Local Governance Resource Centers (LGRCs) in Mindanao and in the documentation of LGU Best Practices. Tina also worked with the Department of Agrarian Reform as a Project Evaluation Officer for the Agrarian Reform Communities Project (DAR-ADB-ARCP). Her primary work included the establishment of an information database for agribusiness and rural enterprises, and the design of a monitoring and reporting system. She also helped to develop the Annual Initial Gains for Agribusiness and Enterprise Project for select provinces in Luzon. She has a degree in Business Administration Management Major in Economics. She speaks fluent English and Tagalog.
Contact Tina: kabella@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08
Finance and Admin Assistant, Philippines
As Finance and Administrative Assistant for the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines, Arlene Tugublimas provides support in the areas of finance, assets control and maintenance, purchasing, personnel services and other administrative services, and also provides technical support to the project. Prior to joining LGSP-LED, Arlene was Finance and Administrative Assistant with the CIDA-funded Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages (PEARL2) from February 2003 to 2008. Arlene has completed courses in Associate Computer Science and Computer Based Accounting. She speaks English, Tagalog and Hiligaynon.
Contact Arlene: atugublimas@lgsp-led.ph | phone: +632 914-3707 to 08