BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARITO B.
PLAZA, PhD
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Dr. Plaza was elected as Congress
Representative of the 1st District of Agusan del Norte in 1987,
reelected in 1992 and 1995 being the youngest elected congresswoman in
Philippine History and the youngest third-termer of the House Representatives.
Her Major legislation includes the
amendment of the Balikbayan program, the Tourism Infrastructure Bill, the
Creation of Caraga Region 13, the AFP Modernization and the Magna Carta for
Small Enterprises to include Tourism. She is a Full Colonel (Reserve),
Philippine Airforce with an Honorary Pilot Badge and Wing Commander for
Mindanao, Phil Air Reserve Force, 3rd Air Wing. She took
Business Administration at Father Saturnino Urios University and finished her
Master in National Security Administration in National Defense College of the
Philippines. After a successful venture, she continued the Doctorate in Peace
and National Security Administration at Bicol State University Graduate School.
In 1995, she finished her Doctorate in Public Administration at University of
the Philippines Diliman.
To complete her
education interest, she went to Australia and finished the specialized course
on Conflict Resolution and Management at the University of Melbourne.
She obtained also the Diploma on National and International Security
Management and Diploma on Strategies of Persuasion at JFK School of Government
at Harvard University, USA. Presently, a university professor and
the Brigadier General of the AFP.
PROF. SERAFIN A. ARVIOLA, JR.
National Association of UNESCO Clubs in the Philippines
Prof. Arviola is currently the Director of Center for International
Linkages and Extension Services of the Philippine Normal University. He was
elected as one of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Association of
the Philippines, an accredited organization of the World Federation of United
Nations Association based in the UN. For
ten year now, he served as project coordinator of UNESCO Associated Schools
Project Network; it is a network of 5, 000 schools world-wide working for the promotion
of peace, human rights and sustainable development in the formal and non –
formal curriculum. He represented the Philippines in various international
conference of the United Nations in New York, Paris, Bangkok, Sydney and Seoul
to name a few. In 2003, he was conferred by the United Nations Leadership Award
for Peace and Human Rights Education by Her Excellency Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo
for mobilizing the youth in the pursuit of UN Millennium Development Goals. In
2007, he was named one of the Ten Young Emerging Educational Leaders of Asia by
Asia Society, an international non – profit organization funded Rockefeller
Foundation based in New York.
He is a
fellow of International Center for Tolereance Education and Center for Conflict
Resolution – Columbia University both based in New York, USA. He was granted a
three – month fellowship for human rights activitiest where he served as
lecturer in different state-run universities in California, New Jersey,
Washington and New York.
He finished
his Masters in Development Policy at the Dela Salle University – Manila under
Philippine Social Science Council Scholarship Grant and currently a PhD
candidate in Peace and Security Administration in Bicol University – Camp Crame Extension
School.
At present,
the is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Association of UNESCO
Clubs in the Philippines of the United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organization.
MR. REX F. YBANEZ
United Nations Youth Association of the Philippines
Mr. Rex F.
Ybanez is presently the National Vice President for External Affairs of the
United Nations Youth Association of the Philippines (UNYAP); the Executive
Director and Chairperson of Mindanao Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (MESCO); the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of
the Caraga Youth Leaders’ Network Inc. (CYLN); the Philippine Coordinator of
Asia Network of Youth Volunteers (ANYV); Executive Director of Institute for Youth Development Affairs of the Philippines (IYDAP); and the Chief Executive Officer of
Philippine Society of Young Good Citizens.He is also currently the Regional Coordinator of Mindanao Young Leaders’ Parliament (MYLP); National Youth Parliament of the National Youth Commission; and the National Co - coordinator of Generation Peace Youth Network. He is a Member of the Regional Advisory Council of the National Youth Commission of the Office of the President of the Philippines for the Region XIII in Northern Mindanao, and the Butuan City Local AIDS Council under Local Chief Executive’s Order. He is the then Chair of the Committee on Publication of National Association of UNESCO Clubs in the Philippines (NAUCP) an arm of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and a Member of the Youth and Student Sector of the National Anti-Poverty Commission of the Office of the President of the Philippines.
He has attended
various national and international gatherings such as National Day of Youth
(2005, Cebu City), International Round Table Discussion on Educating Asian
Leaders for Tomorrow (2009, Manila), National Youth Congress on Good
Citizenship (2010, Bohol), National Youth Parliament (2010, Butuan City), Mindanao
Young Leaders Parliament (2010, Davao City), Kabataan sa Mindanao Natin (2010,
Iligan City),National Summit on Labor, Migration, Employment Consultation
(2010, Davao City), United Nations MDG Youth Gathering (2010, Cagayan de Oro
City), UNESCO National Empowerment Training (2011, Baler), Waging Peace
Philippines (2010 and 2011, Manila), International Youth Day (2011, Ilo-ilo
City), BIDA Ka! National Youth Training (2011, Bohol), National Sectoral
Assembly on Poverty Alleviation (2011, Quezon City), National Youth Summit of
Anti Human Trafficking Advocates (2011, Quezon City), and many others. He is once a discussant for the International
Youth Day: Ka Jam! of the United Nations Joint Programme (2011, Metro Manila).
Mr. Ybanez is
currently taking up Certificate of Conflict Analysis at the United States
Institute for Peace and Certificate on Organizational Structure and Development at
Global Leaders’ Education and Advance Management Services. Mr. Ybanez is a
well-known community development, event organizer and a youth leader in various
fields. He was designated/appointed as the Provincial Coordinator for Bantay Eleksyon 2010 of the Institute for Political Electoral Reform.
He once organized the Caraga Youth Leaders' Convention (2010), Regional Multi - Sectoral Leaders' Summit on Climate Change (2010), Caraga - Japan Youth Friendship Visit (2011), National Summit of Student Services Personnel (2011), Regional Conference on Philippine Peace Process (2011), Mindanao Youth Congress on Good Citizenship (2011), Regional Student Government Leadership Training Program (2012) and Educators' Conference on Education for All (2012) and among others.
He once organized the Caraga Youth Leaders' Convention (2010), Regional Multi - Sectoral Leaders' Summit on Climate Change (2010), Caraga - Japan Youth Friendship Visit (2011), National Summit of Student Services Personnel (2011), Regional Conference on Philippine Peace Process (2011), Mindanao Youth Congress on Good Citizenship (2011), Regional Student Government Leadership Training Program (2012) and Educators' Conference on Education for All (2012) and among others.
He is the former
President of the Federation of Population Development Clubs of Butuan City and awarded
by Junior Chamber International – Philippines as one of the Ten Outstanding
Students of the Year 2005 (TOSY).
RAMON C. CASIPLE
Institute for Political Electoral Reform
Mr. Ramon Casiple is currently the Executive
Director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER). He is also
the Chairperson of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER), the national
coalition of 48 civil society electoral reform stakeholders. He currently sits
in the International Steering Committee of the Initiative and Referendum
Institute-Asia (IRI-Asia) and the Board of Directors of the Economic, Social,
and Cultural Rights-Asia (ESCR-Asia). He is currently a member of the UNDP Asia
Regional Expert Network. Lastly, he is a member of the Philippine Political
Science Association (PPSA).
Mr.
Casiple co-chaired the 2002 GO-NGO National Electoral Reform Summit, the 2003
GO-NGO National Voter Education Summit, the 2004 Second National Electoral
Reform Summit, the 2007 Electoral Reform Summit on Election Modernization, and
the Stakeholders Summit on the 2007 Elections. He served as resource person for
electoral and constitutional reform in the First All-Parties Conference of
Philippine Political Parties (May 2002). He also served as a member of
technical working groups or as a resource person in committee hearings on
electoral reform bills in both houses of Congress. He sat as a member of the
Comelec Advisory Council on Election Automation for the 2010 elections.
Mr.
Casiple headed the CER-initiated Bantay-Eleksyon
2007, the first domestic monitoring mission in Philippine elections, and Bantay-Eleksyon 2010. He also sits,
representing CER, in the Pera at Pulitika
Working Group (PAP-WG), a pioneering project on monitoring campaign financing.
In the 2010 elections, he also headed the pioneering advocacy project against
election violence, Vote for Peace.
He
participated as a delegate or participant in various international conferences
and meetings, including the UN Vienna World Conference on Human Rights (1993)
and the UNHCHR Southeast Asia Consultation with Civil Society (2002). He also
participated in a study tour on party development and campaign financing to
Germany and Belgium last May 2003. In September 2003, he attended the 5th
International Conference of New and Restored Democracies (ICNRD) in Mongolia,
and, again in October, 2006, the 6th ICNRD in Doha, Qatar.
He has
also observed the 2004 US elections upon the invitation of the US State
Department in October-November 2004. In November 2004, he co-chaired the Asian
Conference on Democracy and Electoral Reforms attended by Asian electoral
managers, academics, and civil society electoral reform stakeholders. In 2005,
he attended the Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World in Indonesia and
the biennial World Forum on Democracy in Asia in Taipei (2005), Manila (2007),
and Seoul (2009). He also attended the global World of Direct Democracy
fora in Aarau, Switzerland (2008), in
Seoul, South Korea (2009), and San Francisco, USA (2010).
METODIO B. MARAGUINOT JR.
European
Union DReAMS Project
Metodio B.
Maraguinot Jr. is a young leader from the province of Bohol. He finished his
degrees in AB-Political Science and BSE qualifying in English at Holy Name
University (HNU) as Cum Laude. John,
as he is fondly called by many, is a distinguished resource speaker in the
field of leadership and has conducted workshops, trainings, and seminars on
numerous occasions inside and outside the country.
John’s
calling of purpose-driven leadership took shape during his childhood years. At
age 15, he made history when he was elected as the first national chairperson
of the National Coalition of Children Associations in the Philippines (NaCCAP).
John’s experience here paved the way for his active participation in social and
development agenda particularly those that affect young people. As one of the leading
child advocates for child rights in the country, in 2011, John was one of the
child delegates to the Second World Congress against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children in Yokohama, Japan where he was elected as one the
child speakers tasked to deliver the final challenges to government
representatives across the globe during the closing ceremony of the affair.
Apart from NaCCAP, John was also the scout representative to the National
Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines from 2001 to 2002 with
then Makati mayor now Vice-president Jejomar Binay as national president.
Facilitator, debater, speaker, Eagle Scout rank holder, trainer,
campus journalist, and performing artist, John was a three-termer president of
HNU’s Central Student Government. In 2002, he was invited as junior course
staff to the First World Patrol Leaders Jamboree that was held in Jeju Island,
South Korea. A year after, he was
appointed council member to the Youth and Student Sectoral Council of the
National Anti-Poverty Commission and joined several field missions in Naga
City, Iloilo City, Guimaras, and Cotabato City. John was also vice-chair of the
Bohol Alliance of Student Councils, coordinator of his local church’s parish
youth ministry, and a community volunteer of World Vision Development
Foundation (WVDF) and its partner peoples’ organizations in Bohol. John also
sat as the youngest member in the management board of Bohol Crisis Center,
managing editor of HNU’s Heights Gazette, and editor-in-chief of KAPATID, a
community-based newsletter of the Bohol Concerned Citizens Action for Progress.
For his dedication
and exemplary efforts, John was bestowed with several accolades. In 2001, he
was awarded one of the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines and received
the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Leadership Excellence Medal. In 2005, he
got the top post as Champion of the Rizal Youth Leadership Institute
Extemporaneous Speaking Contest and successfully accomplished the following
awards: Ayala Young Leaders, Ten Jose Rizal Model Students of the Philippines, Ten
Outstanding Students of Bohol, and Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines.
John also received citations from various organizations such as the National
Youth Commission, Philippine Jaycees, WVDF, NaCCAP, Bohol Provincial Council
for the Welfare of Children, among others. For his accomplishments in school,
John was conferred the elusive Fr. Alphonse Lesage, SVD Award for the Most
Outstanding Graduate. John was one of the 26 Filipino young ambassadors to the
33rd Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) and visited the
following countries on board the Japanese luxury liner Nippon Maru: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Japan.
Presently,
John is connected with the European Union (EU) as Deputy Project Manager for
the Realising Development of Resources and Access to Municipal Services for
South and Southeast Asian Local Authorities Project (DReAMS Project for short),
an initiative that involves local governments in five countries, namely,
Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Italy, and Sweden; and the International Council for
Local Environmental Initiatives South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe
Secretariats. Prior joining the DReAMS Project, John was general manager and
chief operation officer of Dauis Renaissance Company, Inc., an Ayala-assisted
project company, at the age of 24.
Finally, in
early 2011, John founded YouthLEAD Philippines, a youth leadership institution
that promotes and trains young leaders on effective transformational
leadership. YouthLEAD Philippines is a testament to John’s continuing
commitment to making a small difference in communities everywhere.
NOTE: Tentative Resource Speakers. Speakers may change without prior notice to the participants. Arrangement of engagement with these persons is between the organizers only. Photo credits to various sources.
