Alumni

She graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Biology as an academic scholar. Prior to AFRIM, she worked as Provincial Government Environmental Management Specialist. She is skilled in field research and documentation and biodiversity assessment. At present, she sits as one of the Board Members of Bantay Kita representing her organization, AFRIM, Inc. She is involve in field researches with focus on political economy and cultural impacts of small-scale gold mining and land grabbing issues in Mindanao.

Ben serves as the Executive Director of the Philippine Grassroots Engagement in Rural Development Foundation, In.  He led several evaluations of projects on rural poverty reduction and technical assistance with local and international program which were done in various countries. He works using participatory Goal Oriented Project Planning framework for rural poverty reduction projects that has been established in several regions in the country particularly in Caraga and ARMM regions. His current engagements include: Civil Society Member of the Multi-Partite Stakeholder Group in the Philippine EITI at national and the sub-national level, and Integrated Coastal Management Planning of the Local Government Units. He is a PhD candidate in Development Administration from Philippine Christian University.

Involved in subnational projects on implementation of transparency and accountability mechanisms at the subnational level. He also responsible to provide technical assistance in various training - workshop and other capacity building activities on EITI.

Tonet is a human rights lawyer and policy research specialist from the Philippines. She is the Deputy Coordinator of Alternative Law Groups. She conducts trainings on the policy and legal environment of the extractives industry in the Philippines with focus on the social and environmental impacts as well as the transparency and accountability of the extractives companies. She also facilitates dialogues between government, civil society and local communities, and undertakes researches on environmental litigation and community empowerment. She involves actively in environmental advocacy including environmental protection, peace and development, and indigenous peoples’ rights. She holds Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from Ateneo de Manila University and Postgraduate Diploma on Environment and Natural Resources Management from the University of the Philippines Open University.

Datu Abdelwin A. Sangkula is the Assistant Regional Secretary for Operations of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DENR-ARMM). He is also the Acting Director of the Mines and Geosciences Section of the Department and Focal Person for the Sustainable Integrated Area Development Project (SIAD), in collaboration with the DENR Central Office and concerned LGUs. As the Assistant Secretary, he has a supervisory function over the various bureaus and provincial offices of the Department. As the Acting Director, he is mandated to recommend the issuance or denial of permits/clearances (e.g. Ore Transport Permit) related to utilization of both metallic and non-metallic minerals within the region and issue specific memorandum for the compliance of companies engaged in mineral utilization.

Ernesto, a survivor of the super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Leyte Island, has a postgraduate degree in economics and business. He has several years of experience with rural communities through his research and
extension functions as a faculty member of the Visayas State University. He has presented academic papers in local, national and international conferences and has published some of these in national and international
journals and other publications. He is actively involved in civil society organizations, particularly with Bantay Kita (Revenue Watch-Philippines), Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and PH-EITI.

Harvey is an agricultural technologist of Marinduque State College. He assists faculty members and personnel of the college in formulating research and extension projects. He supports study/project leaders in conducting socio-economic surveys and laboratory field works in study sites based on approved Research project proposal. He as well assist in gathering, tabulating and summarizing data needed in the Research and Extension office and help in the analysis and interpretation of results. He supervises the research aides/enumerators in the efficient conduct of research. Prior to his assignment, he served as an assistant field technician in Team Agro Trading Corporation. He is currently taking Master of Science in Agriculture major in Crop science in Laguna State Polytechnic University and finishes his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Benguet State University.

Lucila C. Gabriel is a Supervising Legislative Staff Officer in the Committee on Natural Resources in the House of Representatives. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of the Philippines in 2002. Prior to her current position, Ms. Gabriel served as legislative staff officer in Congress and as Corporate Communications Officer in the National Power Corporation. As part of the permanent Secretariat staff, Ms. Gabriel is responsible for conducting in-depth research in order to effectively provide technical assistance to lawmakers in enacting legislative proposals. In 2015, Ms. Gabriel obtained her Master’s degree in International Studies from Kobe University in Kobe City, Japan. The focus of her research then was on migration, gender, and NGO-government relationships.

Marco Zaplan serves as a communications and research analyst of Bantay Kita, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Philippines. He actively involves in advocacy include fiscal reforms in the mining industry and institutionalization of EITI in the country. His research interests lie in fiscal policy issues, indigenous people’s rights, and nonmetallic mining. He holds degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

Ms. Tabada is currently Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Strategic Research for Development Studies of the Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. She teaches graduate courses in development sociology – social movements and population. She heads the VSU team doing research and extension projects on gender and development and building capabilities of local governments and CSOs for improved local governance and transparency and accountability in the extractive sector. She is also one of the CSO representatives in the PHEITI

Multistakeholder Group and is a member of the Board of Bantay KitaPWYP Philippines and Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM). She has a masters degree in Sociology from the University of San Carlos, Cebu City and a bachelors degree in Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Marvin serves as the Campus Director of the University of Antique-Caluya, Caluya, Antique, Philippines. He is on the process of finalizing his thesis prior to his candidate status as Master of Arts in Education at the University of Antque, Sibalom, Antique, Philippines. He was once a recipient of the Church of Sweden-Iglesia Filipina Independiente (CoS-IFI) International Youth Exchange Program in Stockholm, Sweden, which scholars undergo intensive training on youth initiative and leadership. He is active in organizing teacher’s training and an instrumental in bridging the academe to the community, which contributed much in the development of the university’s research and extension programs. Among his initiatives were Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Projects in Caluya, Antique and numerous International Teacher’s Trainings. He had presented papers in the different international research conferences such as: 6th East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics Education (EARCOME), Phuket, Thailand; 5th International Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (CoSMEd), Penang, Malaysia; 17th UNESCO Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation (APEID) International Conference, Bangkok, Thailand; and 14th and 15th International Conferences on Education Research (ICER), Seoul, South Korea.

Served for 4 years as Director and Vice President for Research, Development and Extention of the Romblon State Universit, now designated as Research Coordinator of the College of Business and Accountancy in RSU. She has worked in several Non-Government Organizations for the last 15 years advocating sustainable environment, Women Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation programs. She has conducted and published socio-economic researches and environmental issues. She is a lecturer in Values Formation and Transformative Leadership in the region, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. An outstanding Volunteer partnering with government and nongovernment
agencies. Has served the Theresian's International Board for the last 4 years representing the Filipino Women in its Annual Conference and Board Meeting held in different member countries.

Michael F. Mikin is a twenty-year career professional, which has been engaged in business development activities for established corporations in the Asia Pacific. His engagement with these companies has provided
him the opportunity of working with local communities in rural areas in Mindanao in the areas of establishing livelihood projects as well as being an active participant on environmental studies. When he retired from these
companies in 2010, he joined a Mindanao based Non Governmental Organization, the Foundation for Rural Enterprises & Ecology Development of Mindanao (FREEDOM), Inc. Mr. Mikin currently is the Director for Rural and Indigenous People Communities Community Development. He is the alternate representative of FREEDOM, Inc. to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Mindanao (JCCM), Inc. He finished his studies on Marketing at San Beda College, Metro Manila.

Perpevina has graduated in 1988 with a degree in AB Economics at the Ateneo de Davao University and in 2010 with a degree in MA Economics at the Ateneo de Davao University.
Right after graduation in college, she was hired as a databank staff in a research oriented non-government organization. She started working with Mindanawon Initiatives for Cultural Dialogue in 2001 as the coordinator of the
scholarship program for the indigenous peoples of Mindanao. Later, she became the program officer for the capacity-building program, also for the indigenous peoples. In 2007, I became a part of the research team on the mining industry and have been involved in mining research up to the present. She sit as a member of the board of trustees of Bantay Kita, a network of civil society organizations and non government organizations espousing for greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industry. Now she works for Mindanawon that is one of the founding organizations of Bantay Kita.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of the Philippines - Manila. Currently working as a researcher and campaigner in the Research, Education, and Advocacy Unit of the Center for Environmental Concerns - Philippines, she is conducting research work on environmental and socio-economic issues such as industrial waste and watershed flooding. She is also involved in environmental education activities and policy lobbying for environmental legislation.