THE GAWAD GALING POOK 2007 SELECTION COMMITTEES
The National Selection Committee
 Nereus Acosta, Professor of Public Policy at the Ateneo School of Government, Xavier University and the Ateneo de Manila Political Science Department, served as Congressman of the 1st District of Bukidnon. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, a Master's in International Political Studies from the Indiana University , and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the UP. Dr. Acosta was named the first Filipino World Fellow of Yale University in 2004 in recognition of his advocacies on education and the environment, primarily as principal author of the landmark 1999 Clean Air Act, the 2004 Clean Water Act and the 2001 Solid Waste Management Act.
 Rafael Coscolluela is currently the Administrator of Sugar Regulatory Administration. He was the Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas with rank as Secretary. He began his career in public service in the early eighties, running a socio-economic development program for sugarcane farm workers in his home district in Negros occidental. He was elected Vice Governor in 1988 and served as Governor for three consecutive terms, during which he garnered two Galing Pook Awards. He also serves as Chairman of ESKAN, a Negros-based NGO engaged in education reform, trustee of Synergeia Foundation as well as Chairperson of the Galing Pook Foundation.
 Ederlinda Fernandez is Professor IV at the WMSU and a nationally recognized expert in gender and development and governance. She organized the WMSU Women’s Research and Resource Center and assisted the local government of Zamboanga City in establishing the Local Council of Women. She was a Jovito Salonga scholar, Phil. Veteran’s Scholar, LOI 395 scholar for the MPA program and SIDA grantee for a Woman in Management course in Sweden and Vietnam. She was editor-in-chief of The Torch of the Philippine Normal College and the National Secretary of the College Editor’s Guild, Philippines (CEGP) in 1970.
 Jaime Galvez-Tan is currently the President of Health Futures Foundation and was a former Secretary of Health. He held senior positions at the UNICEF and has been a Consultant for the WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, The World Bank, ADB, and the USAID. He was also Vice Chancellor for Research at the UP Manila and Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health. He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines and the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. He is a Bill Gates Fellow 2000 in Leadership and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, USA.
 Jose Rene Gayo is the Executive Director of PAREF Southridge School in Alabang and the Founding Dean of the University of Asia and the Pacific School of Management. He serves in the board of trustees of a number of social development organizations like the Foundations for People Development, Meralco Foundation, University of Asia and the Pacific, Hands On Manila, and the Sapientes Milites Educational Foundation. He is a member of the International Visitors Program Alumni Philippines Foundation, the Management Association of the Philippines and is the Project Manager of its Farm Business Schools Program. He is listed as one of the 2000 Outstanding Scholars of the 20th Century in the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England.
 Milwida Guevara is CEO of Synergeia Foundation and Fellow of the Public Finance Institute of the Philippines. She was Undersecretary of Finance in-charge of domestic resource mobilization, She served as Co-Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Tax and Tariff Reforms which formulated the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program of Ramos Government; Chairman of the Tax Experts who were convened by ESCAP, United Nations in Bangkok in 1995; and represented the Philippine Government in various international conferences on Public Finance and Taxation. She has been cited by numerous organizations for her integrity, commitment to public service, strong advocacy against tax evasion and her efforts in continuous attainment of a healthy fiscal sector.
 Cielito Habito is currently a Professor of Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he is also Director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development. He is also a regular columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. As former Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Director-General of NEDA, Dr. Habito was the youngest member of the Cabinet of President Fidel V. Ramos. He has a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He also holds a Master of Economics (1978) from the University of New England in Australia.
 Ben Malayang III is currently the President of Silliman University and was a former Undersecretary of the DENR. He is a Senior Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines and Fellow of the Strategic Studies Group of the National Defense College of the Philippines. Dr Malayang was also an Environmental Science Member of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines, Country Co-Coordinator and Member of the International Science Planning Committee of the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Program; and Full Professor and Dean of the School of the Environmental Science and Management of the UP in Los Baños.
 Leonardo Montemayor is currently the National President of the FFF and Board Chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers Cooperative, Inc. He was a former Agriculture Secretary. Sec. Montemayor co-authored major laws and has written extensively on issues about the empowerment of coconut farmers, agrarian reforms, Filipino grains farmers and other important political issues that confronting the Filipino farmers today. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree major in Philosophy at the Ateneo. He finished a Strategic Business Economics Program at the Center for Research and Communication.
 Tina Monzon-Palma is not just acknowledged for her work in the realm of television and radio. She is also admired for her efforts as Program Director of Bantay Bata 163. An iconic member of Philippine Broadcast Journalism history, she had the strength, courage and dignity to broadcast to a nation under Martial Law. Today, she is an anchor on ABS-CBN's nightly news channel "The World Tonight" on ANC and host of the weekly issue-oriented interactive talk show "Talkback with Tina Monzon-Palma" on ANC and A.M. radio station DZMM.
 Austere Panadero is presently the Undersecretary of DILG for Local Government. He is principally responsible for developing and implementing policies, programs and projects addressing the capability-building requirement of local government units. He is also the coordinator and overseer of the Official Development Assistance programs implemented by DILG. Mr. Panadero also served as Senior Vice-President for Operations of the Development Academy of the Philippines, a government controlled corporation providing technical assistance in organizational and human resource development. His 20 years of experience in government service has developed his expertise in governance particularly in capacity building, policy development, change management and management systems enhancement.
 Rosalinda Paredes is currently the Partnership Adviser for Philippine-Australia Local Governance Development Program (LGDP), Phase I. She was also involved in training local government units for public service excellence for health service. She has been involved for the past fifteen years in capacity building of local governments for development planning, human resources development and institution building. She presently co-chairs PROCESS-BOHOL, Inc., a non-government organizations dedicated to empowering women and fisherfolk in coastal communities.
 Emma Porio is a Professor of Sociology of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Ateneo de Manila University. She chairs the Governing Council of the Philippine Social Science Council and is the guest editor of the Philippine Sociological Review. She has authored several publications, such as the Urban Governance and the Poverty Alleviation in Southeast Asia, Partnership with the Poor, Pathways to Decentralization, and Civil Society and Democratization in Asia. She also serves as international advisor to the International Cooperative Housing Foundation (Washington, DC), Forum of Researchers in Human Settlements (Rome), and to the editorial boards of several foreign academic journals.
 Marivel Sacendoncillo is the Executive Director of the Local Government Academy. She is also the President of the Local Government Training and Research Institutes-Philippine Network. Ms. Sacendoncillo holds a Masters degree in Development Management from the AIM, and a Bachelor of Science in Education, from the University of San Carlos. She also studied Conflict Management and Post Conflict Recovery at the University of York, London through the Chevening Senior Fellowship Programme of the British Council.
 Veronica Villavicencio is Executive Director of the Peace and Equity Foundation, Inc. and was the Lead Convenor (Secretary) of the National Anti-Poverty Commission. She also served as Program Director of Philippine Business for Social Progress, Grants Program Director of Foundation for the Philippine Environment and Program Coordinator for APPROTECH ASIA. Ms. Villavicencio obtained her Masters Units in Philippine Studies (Sociology and Regional Planning) at the University of the Philippines. She took short course in Rural Development Planning, Development Studies Program at University of New England, New South Wales,Australia. She graduated B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of the Philippines.
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