Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan

Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan is an economist with extensive high-level policymaking practice and a well-recognized expert in Asia on economic development, poverty and inequality, and political economy of policy reforms. Prior to his appointment as the first Chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission in January 2016, he served as the Economic Planning Secretary in the Cabinet of President Benigno S. Aquino III and, concurrently, the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) where he carried out policies and programs to facilitate inclusive economic growth, employment creation, and poverty reduction. In his capacity as NEDA Director-General, he served as the first Chairperson of the Boards of the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines. Previous to his appointment in NEDA, he was the Dean and Professor of the University of the Philippines School of Economics and Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Economic Development. Before joining the UP faculty in 1987, he was a Research Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu and Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

He has authored and co-edited seven books, published over 100 academic papers and book chapters on various development issues, particularly on the Philippines and East Asia, and won numerous academic and professional awards. He is a lifetime member of the National Academy of Science and Technology, the country’s peer-elected group of select individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and technology.

Dr. Stella Luz A. Quimbo

Dr. Stella Alabastro-Quimbo is an academician who served as a Professor and the Department Chair of the University of the Philippines School of Economics prior to her appointment in the Philippine Competition Commission. From 2011 to 2013, she was a Prince Claus Professorial Chair Holder at Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Dr. Quimbo has an extensive research portfolio in the field of Health Economics, Industrial Organization, Microeconomics, Education, Poverty, and Public Policy and Regulation.

Atty. Johannes R. Bernabe

Atty. Johannes Benjamin R. Bernabe served as a Senior Fellow at the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, where he contributed on formulating and analyzing policy reforms to international trade system. He was also an Of Counsel at Ocampo-Manalo Law Office. His breadth of experience in trade regulation and economic law includes seat as the Commercial Attaché and Trade Negotiator of the Philippines to the United Nations and World Trade Organization from 1999 to 2005. He specialized in competition law and trade facilitation, among other economic policies, as a Research Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Trade and Integration and Facilitation. During the 16th Congress, he served as the lead adviser to the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives on key economic legislations, which includes the Philippine Competition Act or R.A. 10667.
Atty. El Cid R. Butuyan

Atty. El Cid R. Butuyan served as the Head of Investigations and Litigation for the World Bank East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Team in the Integrity Vice-Presidency (INT), an independent unit of the World Bank Group in Washington DC that investigates and pursues sanctions related to fraud and corruption in World Bank Group-financed projects. In this capacity, Atty. Butuyan conducted audits, fact-finding investigations and litigation on cases relating to anti-competitive practices, corruption, collusion, cartel behavior, coercion and fraud by multinational and local firms. He also performed oversight functions to over US$7 billion annual portfolio in the region. From 2004 to 2009, he was among the selected legal counsels of the World Bank Legal Vice-Presidency, where he contributed to policy reforms, early sanctions reform and anti-corruption efforts of the World Bank. At present, he is a Faculty Member at Harvard Law School where he teaches a course on Transnational Corruption. He also sits as Co-Chair of the ABA International Committee-Criminal Justice Section.

Atty. Ruben L. Maximiano

Mr. Ruben L. Maximiano is a lecturer at Lille Catholic University, where he teaches EU competition law, and a senior competition expert at OECD in Paris. Prior to this he worked at the Portuguese Competition Authority and as a lawyer in Vieira de Almeida & Associados in Lisbon in the Competition Law and Telecoms regulation field. He is admitted to the Portuguese Bar. Mr. Maximiano received an LL.M. in European Law from the College of Europe.

Dr. João Eduardo da Costa L. Gata

Mr. João E. Gata is since October 2015 principal economic advisor to the Portuguese Competition Authority (PCA) Board. He was also the Director of the PCA’s Bureau of Economic Studies and Market Monitoring between August 2008 and June 2014, and Chief Economist and Acting Chief Economist between September 2007 and October 2015. Before that he worked as a senior economist in the PCA’s mergers and acquisitions department. He served as Director-General in the Portuguese Ministry for Environmental Affairs between 2006 and 2007. He has been an economics faculty member at the University of Aveiro in Portugal since 2001. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon, a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota/USA, where he also did graduate work in mathematics and computer science, and a Post Grad Diploma in EU Competition Law from Kings College/University of London. He taught economics courses at the University of Minnesota and the University of York for several years, and teaches masters courses in economic regulation and in competition economics in Portugal. He is a member of two top Academic Research Units in Economics in Portugal (UECE & GOVCOPP). He has published in refereed international journals. He was a Fulbright Scholar during his PhD in the USA and also the recipient of a NATO Scholarship.

Dr. Antonio GM La Viña

Dr. La Viña was Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, a position he took in 2006 after an eight-year stint in the World Resources Institute, an international environmental think tank based in Washington DC. Before that, from 1996-1998, he was undersecretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines.

Dr. La Viña is an authority and has published dozens of books, papers and articles on a range of subjects in law and governance, including in constitutional law, international and Philippine environmental law, indigenous peoples rights, biodiversity and biotechnology, sustainable agriculture, trade and environment, mining, public ethics, human rights, leadership, local governance, social accountability and social entrepreneurship. He has published internationally and nationally numerous books and articles, the latest of which is Philippine Law and Ecology, a textbook on Philippine environmental law.

Atty. Gwen Grecia-De Vera

Atty. De Vera received her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from the University of the Philippines in 1995 and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1996, having obtained the 7th highest ranking in the Bar Examinations. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the same University in 1991. She served as law clerk for Associate Justice (ret.) Vicente V. Mendoza. She later became legal counsel for ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. She was formerly an associate attorney with Poblador Bautista & Reyes. She is also a regular faculty member of the University of the Philippines College of Law, where she has been a Senior Lecturer since 1997 in Constitutional Law and Commercial Law Review. She served as alternate director on an Advisory Board to the National Telecommunications Commission. Gwen is likewise a Trustee and Corporate Secretary of Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. Atty. De Vera is currently the Dean of the Manuel L. Quezon University School of Law.

Atty. Rachel Burgess

Atty. Burgess has a broad range of legal experience obtained while working in private practice, as a government lawyer and, most recently, as a consultant. Over the last few years, she has provided consultancy services to the Malaysia Competition Commission drawing on her practical competition law experience obtained in the UK and Australia. Whilst working for the UK government, she was responsible for providing regulatory advice (competition and procurement) and commercial legal advice on some of the UK Ministry of Defense’s largest projects. She worked in private practice in the UK for 4 years, specializing in UK/EU competition law. Prior to arriving in the UK, she worked for a large Australian firm advising on Australian competition law, corporate and commercial transactions and intellectual property.