PROFILE OF SPEAKERS

Christopher Bernido is the president of the CVIF. He obtained his PhD in Physics in 1982 and Master of Science in Physics in 1979 from the State University of New York at Albany, USA. He was conferred the degrees Doctor of Humanities (honoris causa) by the Holy Angel University (2012) and Doctor of Pedagogy (honoris causa) by Ateneo de Naga University (2014).

Bernido was a research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany from 1987 to 1989. From 1996 to 2001, he was also a senior associate member of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.  

Bernido taught for 17 years at UP Diliman where he got the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Researcher and Teacher in 1995. He was the director of the National Institute of Physics in UP from 1983 to 1986, and served as president of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (Physical Society of the Philippines) from 1984 to 1987. He received in 1987 the Achievement Award in Physics from the National Research Council of the Philippines. He was elected member of the NAST Phil in 2007.

Together with his wife Maria Victoria, they were given the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2010 for improving basic education in the Philippines through their CVIF DLP.

Winston Damarillo is the executive chairman of Amihan, a leading digital enterprise transformation company in ASEAN. He served as the chief strategy officer of the PLDT Group and managing director of PLDT Capital. He is a Silicon Valley veteran with over 20 years of experience as a technology entrepreneur and venture capital professional.

Damarillo was among the highest performing venture capital executives at Intel, having led the majority of his investments to either a successful initial public offering or a profitable corporate acquisition. He is the founder of several startups including Gluecode, a company specializing in Java Server Software. Gluecode was acquired by IBM in 2005, and is now an integral part of the IBM WebSphere division.

Damarillo is an active participant and member of the Global Agenda Council in the World Economic Forum (WEF) and was among the WEF Young Global Leaders of 2010.

He is the author of best-selling book, Ready Or Not: The 6 Big Disruptions that Will Change the Way We Do Business.

Alvin Culaba is an Academician of the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology. A University Fellow and a Full Professor 10 of Mechanical Engineering at De La Salle University, he has over 30 years of academic, industry, and government experience.

Culaba undertakes extensive research in the area of alternative energy such as micro-algae for biofuels application, new and renewable energy, and environmental systems engineering modelling and design. With an h-index of 17, he has published over 150 papers in ISI- and Scopus-indexed journals. He has been an environmental management consultant to over 150 multinational companies and SMEs in the Philippines.  He serves as an energy and policy expert and in various other capacities in some agencies of the government such as the Energy Department (DOE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED). He was Past President of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE), and the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PHILAAST), a member of the Presidential Coordinating Council for Research and Development (PCCRD), and an expert panel member of the Joint Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE).

A former Philippine Energy Adviser, he served as an Independent Board Member of the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) and had organized numerous policy and seminar-workshops related to science and technology innovation, nuclear energy policy, renewable and alternative energy policy, among others.

A multi-awarded teacher (Metrobank), scientist (NAST and NRCP), and administrator (DOST),  Culaba holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Environmental Systems Engineering, with specialization in Energy at the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, as a World Bank-DOST scholar.

Benjamin Diokno is a Professor Emeritus of UP Diliman. He finished his Master’s degrees in Public Administration (1970) and Economics (1974) from UP. He also holds a Master of Arts in Political Economy (1976) from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and a PhD in Economics (1981) from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA. He was also conferred a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the UP in 2017.

Diokno is on his third tour of duty with the Department of Budget and Management, having served prior as undersecretary from 1986 to 1991 and department secretary from 1998 to 2001. His major policy reform contributions include spearheading the 1986 Tax Reform Program, helping design the 1991 Local Government Code of the Philippines, streamlining the release of funds through the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get policy, and sponsoring the internationally lauded Government Procurement Reform Act. As budget chief under the Duterte administration, he intends to pursue an expansionary fiscal policy to finance investments in human capital development and public infrastructure. In addition, he seeks for the passage of a Budget Reform Bill and the Government Rightsizing Act.