Mr. Monchito Ibrahim
Executive Member
National Innovation Council

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. appointed Mr. Ibrahim on June 30, 2023, as Executive Member of the National Innovation Council representing the business sector. He joined the public service in 2006 as Commissioner of the then Commission on Information and Communications Technology. He retired as Undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in July 2019.

Before joining the government in 2006, he had a long and successful career in various executive positions with multinational companies like Fujitsu, Siemens-Nixdorf, Comparex Germany, and Unisys Australia.

His other affiliations today are:

• Vice President and Trustee - Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines (AAP),
• Trustee and Vice President - the University of the Philippines System Information Technology Foundation (UPSITF),
• Lead Convenor – Alliance of Technology Innovators for the Nation (ATIN)
• Columnist, Tech4GOOD, The Manila Bulletin
• Member – Internet Society (Philippine Chapter)
• Member – ASEAN Sustainable and Smart Cities Council

Mr. Ibrahim completed a Professional Managers’ Program at the Ateneo de Manila University and a Public Sector Executive Program on Innovative Government at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore.

During the 2012 International ICT Awards, he was given the ICT Individual Contributor Award for his contributions to the growth of the Philippine IT-BPO Industry. He was also named one of the Ten ICT Industry Movers and Shakers for 2002-2012 and recipient of the Boards’ Choice as Government Champion in 2019, both given by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP). In 2016, he was given the Sapphire Flare for Brilliance Award by IBPAP for his work in developing home-grown BPO companies in the countryside. He also received the Best Opinion Columnist Award from the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) during the 10th Makatao Awards for Media Excellence last December 2022.

Mr. Christopher Ilagan
Chairperson
Global Water Partnership – Southeast Asia

Christopher A. Ilagan joined PepsiCo Inc. last August 2023. He provides strategic leadership in the company’s government affairs, public policy, external communications, corporate responsibility and sustainability practice areas across the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and North Asia markets. Over the years, Chris has built his expertise in the government and regulatory affairs space. Before joining PepsiCo, Chris was the Corporate Affairs Director for Cargill Philippines, Inc. and has served as a government relations/public policy professional in 3M Philippines, Manila Water Company, Inc. and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. prior to that. Because of his work in the local water space, Chris has maintained a personal advocacy on water sustainability and governance. He was the immediate past Chairperson of the Philippine Water Partnership – a non-government organization dedicated to the advancement of integrated water resource management – and continues to be involved in various policy dialogues geared towards improving the management of water resources in the country. He has recently been appointed as the Chair of the Global Water Partnership – Southeast Asia. In November 2021, Chris was also appointed to the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chris is an active member of the local business community as a leader and member in a number of associations. Besides his role as the Agribusiness Committee Chair of the AmCham Philippines, he concurrently chairs the Chamber’s Legislative Committee. He is also a Trustee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the Foundation for Economic Freedom and the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc. In 2021, he was appointed by the Philippine Secretary of Agriculture as the Head of the National Yellow Corn Roadmap Development Team tasked to craft a long-term plan for the country’s yellow corn sector.

Chris holds a Masters of Political Economy with specialization in International Relations and Development from the University of Asia and the Pacific, where he also received his Bachelor of Art in Humanities.

Mr. Angelo Tan
Country Lead
Philippines Climate Business Department, International Finance Corporation

Angelo Tan serves as the Country Lead for the Philippines, Malaysia, and the Pacific for Climate Business at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, and the largest global development finance institution focused on the private sector.

Based in Manila, Angelo’s mission is to inspire and empower property developers, financial institutions, and the public sector in the region to raise their climate ambitions and embrace a sustainable vision for the built environment—one that is resilient, low carbon, and committed to achieving net zero.

By mainstreaming Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) and Building Resilience Index (BRI), programs that promote climate change mitigation and adaptation in buildings, Angelo supports mobilization of private capital for climate-smart property investments, toward creating impact for countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Angelo has over 10 years of real estate experience in mixed-use development management, commercial real estate advisory, and architecture business development. He is an industrial engineer and holds a Master of Sustainable Built Environment from UNSW Sydney.

Mr. Roderick De Castro
Executive Director
Business for Sustainable Development

RODERICK F. DE CASTRO has been working for social development for over 20 years. Working initially in the banking industry, he studied Business Management at the Asian Institute of Management after which he began his social development career in Haribon Foundation.

In 2004, Ricky joined the then Mirant Foundation (currently TeaM Energy Foundation) as Program Manager for Rural Electrification, wherein he led one of the biggest CSR programme to be undertaken by the private. sector, the Barangay Electrification for Country Side Development (Project BEACON) wherein more than 300,000 households nationwide were given electricity, including 35,000 in the then ARMM through solar power under the Alliance Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Programme. Ricky also managed the Bridging Leadership program, a leadership development program originally developed by The Synergos Institute and taught at AIM through the AIM-TeaM Energy Center for Bridging Leadership. More than a 100 Leadership Fellows underwent the program and thousands of others through public presentations.

Ricky also held the Chairmanship of the League of Corporate Foundations and has been giving lectures and presentations in the areas of CSR, Resource Mobilization, Sustainable Development, and Strategic Management. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Leadership Development Center. He is currently the Executive Director of the Business for Sustainable Development organization.

Engr. Voltaire Acosta
Deputy EU Green Economy Programme of the Philippines (GEPP) Project Manager
United Nations Development Programme

Engr. Voltaire Acosta is an ASEAN (chemical) engineer with 23 years of experience in cleaner production/circular economy and environmental engineering. He worked with DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute and the League of Cities of the Philippines before he joined various development cooperation projects. He served as Deputy Team Leader for a GIZ waste management project, Deputy Chief of Party for a USAID climate and clean energy project, UN-Habitat’s Project Manager for a circular plastics economy project, and consultant to UNIDO in developing GEF project proposals for the circularity of plastics and electronics, before he joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as Deputy Project Manager for the €23M Green LGUs component of the €60M European Union-funded Green Economy Programme in the Philippines spearheaded by the DENR and co-led by the DILG.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila), cum laude, was 1st Place board topnotcher in the 2000 Chemical Engineering Licensure Exam, and has completed his master’s in environmental engineering from the University of the Philippines at Diliman in 2006.