Field of specialization:
- Management Development
- Strategic Planning
- Industrial Policy Formulation
- Investment Promotion
- Development Economics
- Social Economics,
- Business Economics
- Strategic Management
Professor Bernardo M. Villegas, Ph.D
The Research Director and one of the founders of CRC, Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas is one of the Philippines’ most eminent economists.
He has advised Philippine government administrations on industrial policy formulation and investment promotion since the 1970s, and his preeminence in the field even led to him being appointed as one of the delegates to the convention that framed the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.
Aside from being the CRC’s research director, he also serves as Professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and Visiting Professor of IESE Business School in Barcelona. He has written some of the Philippines’ most influential economics textbooks, used extensively in Philippine schools and universities. Over the years, he has also written a number of management best-sellers like The Philippine Advantage, Book of Virtues and Values, Productivity: Path to Global Competitiveness, The Filipino Phenomenon, The Philippines at the Threshold of the Third Millennium, and the Positive Dimensions of Population Growth.
He continues to work untiringly to promote investments in the Philippines, especially in the regions outside the National Capital Region, and is constantly guesting on investment road shows, briefing international audiences on the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region. And of course, in his continuing role as CRC’s research director, he faultlessly guides CRC in businesses all over the world as the research and consultancy link to Philippine business opportunities.
Field of specialization:
- Business and Industry Policy
- Competitive Strategy, and Business Sustainability
- Industry-based Policies
Winston Conrad B. Padojinog, D.B.A.
He is the President of the University of Asia and the Pacific, where he teaches industrial economics and strategic management. Always keeping in mind the interest of persons and institutions, he ensures that the curriculum of the executive program he teaches and his research, affiliations, and consultancy work revolve around the development of persons and of public and private institutions in the pursuit of the common good of society.
He is an adviser and consultant to several industry associations such as SEIPI and SHDA, government agencies, and corporations. His recent advocacies include the promotion of next-best practices in business sustainability programs and initiatives, closing the housing backlog in the Philippines, and the promotion of unity in and the growing wealth of family businesses. He is also the President of the Center for Research and Communication Foundation. Inc.
Field of specialization:
- International Economics
- Free Trade Areas
- The Services Trade
George N. Manzano, Ph.D.
He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of New South Wales, Australia and an MS in Economics from the Center for Research and Communication, the forerunner of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. His research interests revolve mainly around issues in international economics such as free trade areas and trade policy.
Dr. Manzano once served as a Member Commissioner of the Philippines Tariff Commission. Likewise, he assumed the position of Economic Affairs Officer in the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 2009-2010. He also served as the Director of the UA&P APEC Study Center and the Dean of the UA&P School of Economics.
Field of specialization:
- Energy Economics
- Industrial Economics
- Mathematical Economics
- Econometrics
Peter Lee U, Ph.D.
He is the Dean of the UA&P School of Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from Purdue University (USA) and a Master of Science in Industrial Economics degree from UA&P. He earned an undergraduate degree in Industrial Management Engineering from the De La Salle University.
His primary research area has been in the Philippine energy sector. He was a member of the 2005 Independent Panel constituted by the Department of Energy (DOE) to review the Oil Deregulation Law. In 2008, he led a team to review the reasonableness of oil prices for the DOE. He has also served as a member of the Market Surveillance Committee of the Philippine Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
He served as president of the Philippine Economics Society in 2012 and has been a visiting researcher at the Nagoya University in Japan.
Field of specialization:
- Industry Roadmap Development
- Human Capital Development
- Regional and Urban Development and Industrial Economics
- Urban and Regional Growth Prospects
- Consumer Markets
Roberto de Vera, Ph.D.
Results-driven economist with a proven track record of translating complex economic theory into actionable insights for policymakers and businesses. Passionate about leveraging data and research to address societal challenges and improve the lives of marginalized communities.
As a consultant, he conducted briefings on Philippine urban markets, resulting in a 15% increase in annual revenues for various companies. He also co-investigated two studies on health workforce service capacities and client satisfaction with DOH hospitals for the UP National Institutes of Health in 2015, which helped guide the Department of Health’s budget allocation from taxes on cigarettes and sweetened beverages.
He served as the team manager for the Philippine Iron and Steel Industry Competitiveness Roadmap project for the Department of Trade and Industry in 2012. In 2014, he prepared a budget projection and identified city growth clusters for the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its surrounding areas, playing a key role in the completion of priority transport projects worth hundreds of billions of pesos.
Mr. De Vera also conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the shift to the K-12 education system, and audited the progress of several cities in implementing good governance measures as a Solidarity Missions member for the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).
Field of specialization:
- Sustainability
- Business and Human Rights
- Local Governance, and Corporate Social Responsibility
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Mr. Colin Legarde Hubo
He has 30 years of solid work experience and strong business network in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, presently a global ambassador of International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC-London) and a certified practitioner of GRI, , TCFD, SASB and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. He was elected as stakeholder council member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-Amsterdam) from 2007-2011 and presently as IIRC ambassador, he serves as business sustainability facilitator, adviser and content developer of top conglomerate, energy, mining, banking companies in the Philippines for their ESG, Sustainability Reports, Sustainability Plan/Roadmap, CSR, community resource mapping and baselining.
His past and present clients include GT Capital Holdings, First Philippine Holdings, San Miguel Corporation Global Power, SM Prime Holdings, DMCI Holdings, First Gen Corporation, Energy Development Corporation, Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Corporation, Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, San Roque Power Corporation, TEaM Energy Philipines, AES Philippines and Vietnam, TVI Mining, FCF Minerals, Landbank of the Philippines, Century Properties Group, Philippine National Bank. This is the offshoot for him to push for the issuance of mandatory non-financial reporting for publicly listed companies in the country.
Prior to ESG work, he was lead country consultant of IFC-WB project on CSR for mining, UK embassy project on alternative financing for local governments (LGUs), French Development Agency project on green financing for LGUs, business risk analyst of the London-based Control Risks, UN Women and RP’s Commission on Human Rights.
He obtained his Political Science degree from the University of the Philippines Visayas, master’s degree in Education from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), master’s degree (sans thesis) in Sociology from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He was a Fleishman fellow at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy of Duke University and enrolled in the Leadership and Management Executive Education Program of Wharton School.
Concurrently, he is the executive director of UA&P-Center for Social Responsibility (CSR), in charge of budget, management and directing CSR faculty members to deliver 3 sustainability courses for undergraduate & graduate students, credited in integrating sustainability in UA&P and starting an executive program on sustainability accredited by the SEC of the Philippines. Likewise, he provides overall oversight of the community extension program of UA&P to various low-income communities.
The Research and Communication Partner of University of Asia and the Pacific
