It is only by fixing the foundations of our system could we build one that fulfills the promise of our people and the demands of this period of our history and the next.
– Fixing the Foundations, EDCOM 2 Year Two Report
Listen to our podcast, where we give you a summary of the EDCOM 2 Year 2 Report, a rundown of our key findings and recommendations, and more!
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) is a national commission tasked to undertake a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector. It is tasked with recommending transformative, concrete and targeted education reforms in the sector, with the end in view of making the Philippines globally competitive in both education and labor markets.
Dr. Maria Cynthia Rose Banzon Bautista is a sociology professor who has led multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional, and international research teams in exploring a wide range of social and political-economic concerns. She served as executive director of the University System’s policy research center and dean of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy before her secondment to the Commission on Higher Education as Commissioner. She is also the former Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines (UP) System and Trustee of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies, the country’s socioeconomic policy think tank.
Dr. Bautista served on the Advisory Board, Management Board, Board of Trustees, Executive Board, or Executive Committee of institutions that include the National University of Singapore’s Asian Research Institute; Human Development Network, Asian Scholarship Foundation, ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN) and the UNESCO Regional Committee for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications in Asia and the Pacific.
She also chaired the Philippine Social Science Council’s Executive Board, UNESCO National Commission’s Social Sciences and Humanities Committee, Regional Task Force on the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF); Expert Working Group on the Qualifications Framework of (EU SHARE) and Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
For her work, Dr. Bautista received several awards. These include the National Research Council of the Philippines’ Achievement Award for the Social Sciences; the UP Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award; the Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS); the National Academy of Science and Technology’s (NAST) Outstanding Young Scientist Award and NAST Outstanding Publication Award.
Dr. Bautista obtained her BA degree from the University of the Philippines in Diliman (magna cum laude) and her MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Meliton “Chito” B. Salazar is the President and CEO of PHINMA Education. whose mission is to make lives better through education. It is a fast-growing network of schools in Southeast Asia that caters to more than 95,000 underserved students. It presently owns and operates nine schools in the Philippines and manages one in Indonesia.
Concurrently, he is the President and COO of PHINMA Corp., President and Co-Founder of Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), a nonprofit organization founded by the country’s top business leaders that works for education policy reform. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Governor of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), and member of the board of directors of PAMI Managed Funds and the Philippine Press Council.
Dr. Salazar has a PhD in International Relations, Major in International Development and Development Management from the School of International Service at The American University in Washington, D.C.; an M.A. in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University in New York, and a B.S. Management Engineering degree from ADMU.
Dr. Karol Mark Yee recently completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge as a scholar of the Jardine Foundation and the Cambridge Trust. He is concurrently Faculty at the Ateneo de Manila University, Research Fellow at the University of the Philippines Centre for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS), and Research Affiliate at the Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE) at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Albany.
Karol Mark previously served as Executive Director IV and Director of the K to 12 Transition Program at the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Legislative Officer in the Philippine Senate under then Senator Edgardo J. Angara who Chaired the Committee on Education in the 19th Congress. He was also Chief of Party of YouthWorks PH, a 5-year youth empowerment and workforce development project implemented by the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) in partnership with the USAID.
He completed his Master of Education (Ed.M.) in International Education Policy at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education (HGSE) as a Fulbright Scholar, and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Broadcast Communication at University of the Philippines in Diliman (Magna Cum Laude; Gawad Tsanselor).
ATTY. JOSEPH NOEL M. ESTRADA obtained his degree in Political Science at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1999 where he graduated with honors. He is also one of the 400 outstanding alumni of Letran or 400 Grandes Figuras for 2022.
He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, and admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2005. He is the founding partner of the Estrada & Aquino Law, Co. In 2019, he completed an executive program on “Transforming Higher Education Leaders Through Effective Policy Reforms” at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
Atty. Estrada previously served as Managing Director of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA). Atty. Estrada is acknowledged as a legal luminary in the field of education law who immerse and help shape the legal and policy environment in education.
Ms. Irene Isaac is the Former Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) from October 2015 to June 2016. Within the same organization, she had also previously held posts as Deputy Director General for Policies and Plans, Executive Director of Qualifications and Standards Office, Quality Manager in concurrent capacity, and Regional Director of the TESDA regional offices in the National Capital Region, Bicol and Northern Mindanao.
Ms. Isaac was also a member of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) National Coordinating Commission from October 2015 to June 2016, and was also Head of the Secretariat of the PQF, and the Chair of the PQF Working Group on Qualifications Register.
She is also an active member of the International Labour Organization, having been the National Consultant for the Review of Lifelong Learning – Skills for Prosperity Project of ILO Manila, and an International Consultant – Mutual Recognition of Skills, ILO ROAP. She was also an International Consultant for the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Quality Assurance and Recognition of Competency Certification Systems of IOM, as well as the Project Manager – NQF QA in TVET in CLMV HRDKorea, TEAM C3 from 2020 to 2021.
Ms. Isaac was also a member of the Education Task Force of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2021 to 2022.
Dr. Guevara is the President of Synergeia Foundation that works with local governments so that education can be efficiently and equitably delivered.
Dr. Guevara served as Undersecretary of the Department of Finance from 1991 to 2000 responsible for revenue generation and tax reforms. She worked as a Tax Advisor in the International Monetary Fund, and, Program Officer of the Ford Foundation. She is a member of the Faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University, Graduate School of Government
For her integrity, excellence in public finance, and her leadership in improving the quality of basic education, Dr. Guevara was conferred the 2nd Gawad Haydee Yorac Award in 2008. Synergeia was conferred the Peace Award for its work in Muslim Mindanao, and the Ozanam Award for finding joy in working with the poor.
Olie Lucas is a former banker who became one of the founding trustees of Unang Hakbang Foundation Inc., a child-serving organization that provides tutorials and other learning assistance to children from very poor communities. She is currently the President of the Civil Society Network for Education Reform, better known as E-Net Philippines, and Coordinator of the social protection cluster of the Alternative Budget Initiative of Social Watch Philippines. As a strong advocate for participatory and open governance, Olie has been the elected representative of NCR civil society organizations in the Philippine Open Governance Partnership National Steering Committee for the last four years.
Maria Laarni “Lani” Cayetano embodies the Filipina’s ability to steer a community towards greatness. Her leadership is focused on human capital investment, which she has proven to be an effective first step to economic development.
Mayor Lani has a Mass Communication degree from Centro Escolar University. She also studied Innovative and Developmental Local Governance and Policy Making for Local Chief Executives and Legislators at the University of the Philippines.
She was elected as the first female Congressional Representative of the First District of Taguig-Pateros. She proceeded to become the youngest and the first female Mayor of the City of Taguig. During her three terms, she prioritized programs that invests in Taguigeños’ health and education. She launched pioneer programs like door-to-door delivery of medicines and equipment; 24/7 doctors on call; and home visits of medical professionals to bedridden patients. She made tuition, school supplies, and uniforms free from day care to college. Through her initiative to significantly increase the budget for scholarships, Taguig produced over 58,000 scholars and more than 2,700 licensed professionals.
During the 18th Congress, then Representative Lani, together with her husband former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, authored notable legislations such as the National Academy of Sports Act and Department of Migrant Workers Act, among others.
In her return to the City Government of Taguig, Mayor Lani earned a renewed mandate to continue the good work of her administration. During her first 100 days in office, school principals, teachers, and non-teaching staff were given additional allowance. Job order and contract of service personnel of the city government were also given social security coverage. These initiatives and many more are steps towards making Taguig a Transformative, Lively, and Caring City.
Mayor Vico Sotto finished his bachelor’s degree in 2011, with a major in political science, and his master’s degree in public management in 2018, with honors, both at the Ateneo de Manila University. He was previously a Project Associate for the twin programs of Government Watch and Political Democracy and Reforms.
He then served one term as City Councilor of Pasig, where he championed the passage of ordinances on citizen participation and freedom of information (FOI), with the latter becoming the first local legislation of FOI in Metro Manila. Running on a platform of change, he was elected Pasig City Mayor in May 2019.
Two years into his administration, the United States Government recognized his efforts for transparency and accountability in governance, conferring him the Anti-Corruption Champion Award, along with 11 others from the rest of the world. He won his re-election bid in May 2022, with a renewed mandate to continue the fight for good governance in Pasig City.
Ms. Irene Isaac is the Former Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) from October 2015 to June 2016. Within the same organization, she had also previously held posts as Deputy Director General for Policies and Plans, Executive Director of Qualifications and Standards Office, Quality Manager in concurrent capacity, and Regional Director of the TESDA regional offices in the National Capital Region, Bicol and Northern Mindanao.
Ms. Isaac was also a member of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) National Coordinating Commission from October 2015 to June 2016, and was also Head of the Secretariat of the PQF, and the Chair of the PQF Working Group on Qualifications Register.
She is also an active member of the International Labour Organization, having been the National Consultant for the Review of Lifelong Learning – Skills for Prosperity Project of ILO Manila, and an International Consultant – Mutual Recognition of Skills, ILO ROAP. She was also an International Consultant for the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Quality Assurance and Recognition of Competency Certification Systems of IOM, as well as the Project Manager – NQF QA in TVET in CLMV HRDKorea, TEAM C3 from 2020 to 2021.
Ms. Isaac was also a member of the Education Task Force of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2021 to 2022.
Ms. Doris Ferrer is the Executive Director of the Private Education Assistance Committee, the Trustee of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education or FAPE. More significantly, PEAC manages the longest-running PPP in Education in the country, the Education Service Contracting Program that was legislated in 1989 as the GASTPE Law. In 2016, PEAC was again contracted by the DepEd to co-implement the Voucher Program for Senior High School. PEAC is also a PRC-accredited CPD provider providing training programs for teachers and school leaders.
Doris was also recently elected Director and Corporate Secretary of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).
She served as the Executive Director of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) from May 2009 to October 2014. Prior to joining CEAP, she was connected with St. Scholastica’s College for 18 years as High School Physics Teacher, Dean of Student Affairs, Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences and Department Chairperson of the Natural Sciences Department in the College Unit.
Doris Ferrer graduated cum laude in the BS Physics for Teachers program of the Philippine Normal University (PNU) in consortium with De La Salle University, a recipient of a Department of Science and Technology scholarship grant. In 2015, PNU recognized Doris as one of its Distinguished Alumna.
She finished her Masters in Education Major in Physics from De La Salle University. In January 2014, she finished an Executive Program on Public Policy and Private Sector Development at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore. In October 2017, she finished an Executive Program on the Essentials of Policy Development also from LKY School of Public Policy.
She is currently completing her PhD in Education major in Educational Leadership and Management (Executive Program) also from DLSU.
Fred Ayala is a Managing Director and Member of the Management Committee of the Ayala Group. He leads the Ayala Group’s investments in the education sector, and is President of iPeople, the Yuchengco-Ayala partnership which encompasses over 54,000 students across the country.
iPeople’s 7 schools include leading STEM university Mapua and its subsidiaries, Malayan Colleges Laguna in Cabuyao, Malayan Colleges Mindanao in Davao and Malayan High School of Science, as well as Naga based University of Nueva Caceres (the largest private university in Bicol), National Teachers College (the first private college in the country to offer Education courses) and APEC Schools (the largest chain of stand-alone high schools in the country).
Fred is a Trustee of the Philippine Business for Education, and a member of PBEd’s National Industry Academe Council and Brown University’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies’ Global Advisory Board.
Fred holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA in Development Studies (Honors) and Economics from Brown University. Prior to that he attended the Ateneo de Manila.
Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J. served as President of the Ateneo de Manila University for 18 years (1993-2011). He was Dean of the Ateneo College of Arts and Sciences (1973-1980). He was President of Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro in the early 1990s. He was also Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in the Philippines (1983-1989).
Fr. Nebres did his early studies in classics and philosophy in Berchmans College, Cebu City, Philippines, and completed an AB and MA in philosophy. He obtained a PhD in mathematics from Stanford University.
He did extensive work to develop science and mathematics in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia beginning in the 1970s and was elected in 2011 as National Scientist by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). He was conferred the award by President Benigno Aquino III in September 2011.
After retirement as President, he continues to work as Professor of Mathematics at the Ateneo de Manila. He also works with the Commission on Higher Education for the development of science and mathematics and faculty development. He chaired the Project Advisory Group of the Philippines-California Advanced Research Institute (PCARI). He is engaged in various programs to help overcome poverty in the country: improving public education in over 400 public schools with the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) and in over 300 municipalities, including the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, with Synergeia Foundation; building homes and communities for the poor with Gawad Kalinga; and supporting young people engaged in social enterprises for poor communities.