| Speakers' Profile |
Clare Wee
Head
Office of Anticorruption and Integrity
Asian Development BankClare Wee is Head of the Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). OAI is the focal point in ADB's drive against corruption and for dealing with alleged incidents of corruption or fraud in its projects or by its staff. Ms. Wee joined OAI as Director from ADB’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC), where she was Assistant General Counsel when she left OGC (2005–2007).
Prior to joining ADB, Ms. Wee practiced law in New York City with the law firm Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan. She has an interest in governance and insolvency law, and her articles have been published in International Lawyer, Asia Pacific Insolvency and Restructuring News; Global Insolvency Restructuring Review; Global Turnaround, and Globe White Page. She studied law at Brooklyn Law School, New York City and was admitted to the New York bar in 1992. Ms. Wee is a citizen of the Republic of Singapore.
Thomas Ossowski
Ambassador
Federal Republic of Germany to the PhilippinesThomas Ossowski, born on July 1st 1967 in Karlsruhe in south-west Germany, studied politics and international relations at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris. He has served in the German Foreign Office since 1992. Before coming to Manila he worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the German Foreign Minister after an assignment as the Foreign Office's Head for EU policy coordination.
Previous postings abroad include Afghanistan, where Ambassador Ossowski served as the Civilian Head of the German Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kunduz and as Political Advisor to the ISAF Commander in Kabul from 2007-2009. In Rwanda Mr. Ossowski worked as Deputy Head of the German Embassy from 1998-2001 after he had made his first experiences in the diplomatic service as Political Officer at the German Embassy in Israel.
He assumed his post in Manila in March 2014.
Bernd-Markus LissPrincipal Advisor Climate Program and Focal Point AnticorruptionDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) PhilippinesBernd-Markus Liss is the Green Sector Coordinator of GIZ Philippines and Principal Advisor for the Climate Program, funded under the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). He also acts as the Focal Point on Anticorruption and leads the Anticorruption Working Group of GIZ Philippines.
Before joining GIZ as a program manager in 2010, Bernd-Markus Liss was engaged in university research and in the consulting sector. As co-founder of AGEG International Consultants eG, he worked for more than 20 years as Executive and Senior Consultant with a focus on forest and climate policy. In this function he acted as Advisor to German federal and state ministries and government agencies, for GIZ and KfW, and for governments in developing countries and countries in transition.
His assignments in international cooperation included work with bilateral donors, FAO, UNDP and World Bank, with more than 25 years of experience in projects from field level implementation to the international policy dialogue under the UN System. He holds a MSc and a PhD in Forest Sciences from Munich University, where he was still engaged as a lecturer on sustainable resources management until 2009. Since 1994, his regional focus of work is Southeast-Asia with assignments in the Philippines since 2004.
Melchor Arthur H. Carandang, LL. M.
Overall Deputy Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
PhilippinesMelchor Arthur H. Carandang is the present Overall Deputy Ombudsman (ODO) of the Office of the Ombudsman having been appointed by President Benigno C. Aquino on October 14, 2014. He assists the Ombudsman in overseeing and administering the operations of the Office of the Ombudsman. Aside from his current position, he is designated as the Acting Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, an organic component of the office with the primary mandate to prosecute cases of high-ranking officials within the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. At the same time, he takes the helm as the Investment Ombudsman of the budding Investment Ombudsman Team to improve the business climate by protecting the investors against erring and abusive public officials.
Tracing back, ODO Carandang started working at the Office of the Ombudsman in 1989 as a senior planning officer when this said office was barely one year in existence while he was only in his fourth year in the college of law. He passed through the meritorious steps of promotion since a reorganization took place in 1990 occupying various positions.
In 1995, ODO Carandang was a recipient of a scholarship grant given by the Australian government to take up Master of Laws at the University of New South Wales. Upon his return, he served in various capacities as head of the Legal, Monitoring and Prosecution Division of the Fact Finding and Intelligence Bureau in 2000 and of the Research and Special Studies Bureau in 2001 before becoming the Assistant Ombudsman of the formerly known Fact-finding, Intelligence and Research Office (FIRO) which later became the Field Investigation Office.
In 2007, ODO Carandang opted to retire and since then has engaged in the practice of his profession as legal consultant at the Yazaki Torres Manufacturing, Inc. for about five years until his return in 2011 to the Office of the Ombudsman under the leadership of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as a consultant before occupying his present position.
Neten Zangmo
Chairperson
Anti-Corruption Commission
BhutanDasho Neten Zangmo is the Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Bhutan. She leads the building of an anti-corruption cadre in the ACC and beyond unified by the vision of building an incorruptible society; establishing ACC as an incorruptible, credible, impartial, fearless, effective and a professional institution that will enjoy confidence and trust of the people; and building social, economical and political synergies to curb corruption through public education, prevention and investigation. Prior to joining ACC, Ms. Zangmo was Bhutan's Cabinet Secretary from 1999 to 2003 and Foreign Secretary from 2003 to 2005. Ms. Zangmo holds a degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in technical education.
Kendra Dupuy
Natural Resource Management Advisor
U4 Anti-Corruption Resource CenterKendra Dupuy is a political economist focusing on corruption and anti-corruption in the extractive industries and the forestry sector. She examines issues related to the impact of multi-stakeholder natural resource governance initiatives on public goods provision in member states; identifying corruption risks and mitigation strategies in natural resource benefit sharing mechanisms; examining private sector approaches to transparency and accountability in natural resource sectors; and analyzing legal requirements for community development in the mining sector. She also facilitate workshops and online trainings on corruption and anti-corruption in natural resource management.
Bart W. Édes
Director
Social Development, Governance and Gender Division
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
Bart Édes manages a division providing quality assurance, policy guidance, and technical advice to ADB operations in the following areas: civil society engagement; capacity building; anti- corruption, governance and public management, ICT for development; inclusive business, poverty and social analysis; youth engagement, and social protection and labor in developing Asia and the Pacific. The division also generates and shares knowledge and good practice, mobilizes resources, forges partnerships, promotes innovation, and undertakes pilot projects.
In previous assignments at the regional development bank, Mr. Édes oversaw ADB work on disaster risk management, education, and health. He also led development of ADB’s Public Communications Policy, which set a new global benchmark for transparency and information sharing among the international financial institutions.
Between 1994 and 2000, Mr. Édes managed communications at SIGMA, a joint initiative of the European Union and the OECD providing support on public governance reform to European countries in transition. In earlier roles, Mr. Édes has worked as a journalist, policy analyst, and specialist on international trade and foreign direct investment.
He has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government (cum laude) from Georgetown University.
Joyceline A. GocoDeputy Executive DirectorClimate Change CommissionPhilippines
Assistant Secretary Joyceline A. Goco is currently the Deputy Executive Director of the Climate Change Office of the Philippines Climate Change Commission. She also acts as the Project Manager of development partner-supported initiatives on climate change adaptation and mitigation. She was formerly the Head of the Inter-agency Committee on Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Secretariat. She was instrumental in the establishment of the CDM Designated National Authority and the formulation of the National Clean Development Mechanism Framework. She likewise coordinated the preparation of the 1st and 2nd National Communication on Climate Change. She has been presenting papers on climate change issues at national and international conferences and fora and is involved in the international climate change negotiation as member of the Philippine Delegation.
Rodel C. LaurelesOIC DirectorProject Development DivisionMunicipal Development Fund OfficeDepartment of FinancePhilippines
Licensed Civil Engineer by profession and currently the Development Management Officer III and Disaster Management Assistance Fund (DMAF) Coordinator of the Municipal Development Fund Office, Department of Finance.
Technical Evaluator/In-house Technical Consultant/Auditor of various government projects financed by World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other foreign financial institution including United Nation’s administered and supervised projects in the Philippines at Public Debt Audit Office of the Commission on Audit from 1995 to 2004.
Renato Redentor Constantino
Executive Director
Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC)
Board Member and Private Sector Representative to the People’s Survival Fund Board
PhilippinesRenato Redentor Constantino heads the climate policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, the publisher of the groundbreaking literary anthology Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change. Constantino is the author of The Poverty of Memory: Essays on History and Empire. He writes for several publications, and his essays on history, memory, climate and beer have been translated into several languages. Constantino worked for over a decade with international environment and development campaigning organizations, spanning South, Southeast, East, and Central Asia. He is a board member of the Oakland-based human rights organisation International Accountability Project. In his spare time, Constantino runs a bar with his buddies called Fred’s Revolución in Cubao Expo, Quezon City. He rides a handsome bike named Wyatt Earp. (His previous bicycle, Goran Apache, is now with his son.) In his spare time, Constantino makes prints from wood and linoleum, paints, makes drinking glasses with discarded liquor and beer bottles. He cooks street food meals he mimicked from his long travels, for his family and friends and himself. His current fascination is weeds. Constantino is a Noranian.
Antonio G. M. La Viña
Dean
Ateneo School of Government
Ateneo De Manila University
Advisor to the Philippine Delegation to the UNFCCC
Dr. Tony La Viña is a teacher, thinker and lawyer. He is a social entrepreneur and an environmental and human rights advocate. He is currently Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, a position he took in 2006 after an eight year stint in the World Resources Institute. Before that, from 1996-1998, Dean Tony was undersecretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines. He is well known, among others for his work in climate change, biodiversity, extractive industries, land tenure, and indigenous peoples’ rights.
Tony has been active in the climate change negotiations since the first session of Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Berin, Germany. He played prominent and leadership roles in Kyoto in 1997 as the chair of the land use change and forestry negotiations and in Copenhagen in 2009 where, he chaired the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (also known as REDD-plus) negotiations. In the Durban Climate Change Conference in December 2011, Tony once again chaired the REDD-plus negotiations which focused on REDD-plus finance.
Tony is currently a member of the Board of Directors of several national and international organizations, such as the Manila Observatory, Center for International Forestry Research, Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), and Center for International Environmental Law. He is the Co-Chair of the Partnership Council of Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia and the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA). He is also the Chairman of the Board and President of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (Philippines) Inc.
Muhammad Zakir Hossain Khan
Head
Climate Governance Team
Transparency International Bangladesh
M. Zakir Hossain Khan, has been working as Senior Program Manager on Climate Finance Governance under Transparency International Bangladesh since 2010 through generating evidences to promote good governance in climate finance at both country and global level (UNDP, International Center on Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCCAD), IISD, DFID). He led as well as contributed to conduct several study reports on CFG that have contributed to strengthen the climate finance governance in Bangladesh. Moreover, those evidences have created demand for effective governance in climate finance mechanism through sensitizing vulnerable community, government, experts, think tanks and CSOs. Before that Zakir performed as lead researcher on several studies on economics of arsenic menace and tax incentives; governance in power sector, national tax systems, disaster management and water resource managements. All of his studies have been published by reputed publishers likeOxford, Cambridge, Journal of Development Economics, South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), South Asian Network for Environmental Economics (SANEI), Transparency International and TI-B.
Claudia Buentjen
Principal Public Management Specialist
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
Claudia Buentjen is a macroeconomist/international economist, and public sector reform specialist with 20 years of experience in project management, advisory services and research in more than 10 developing countries in the Asia & Pacific region.
In her current position, Claudia provides technical leadership to the Governance Thematic Group. She develops and maintains thematic policies, strategies, operational plans, and directional papers to guide ADB-wide work in the areas of public sector management, governance and capacity development. Claudia also leads the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results. In both functions, Claudia contributes to the quality of country programs and operations by providing direct operational support, sharing latest knowledge, and supporting learning, innovation, and partnerships.
In previous positions Claudia led the Philippine country team and was responsible for the preparation and implementation of the Country Partnership Strategy, 2011–2016. She also supported a range of government reforms in intergovernmental fiscal relations, land management, results-based budgeting, taxation, social accountability, and disaster response. Claudia holds a Ph.D. in international economics and a Diploma in business administration and economics.
Aled Williams
Senior Advisor
U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Center
Political scientist with a background in international relations and political philosophy. His work focuses on the politics of development, aid, corruption and natural resources, particularly political economy and political ecology approaches to the forestry sector and extractive industries. He has a regional focus on South East Asia.
Williams has extensive experience in research, policy analysis, project management and both online and in-country training. He has undertaken policy-oriented research and governance-related capacity building assignments with a wide range of governmental and non-governmental actors in Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Macedonia, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Vietnam, and Zambia.
He was previously a Senior Research Coordinator at the global anti-graft NGO Transparency International based in Berlin. At TI he worked on the first Global Corruption Report, established TI's first working and policy position paper series, coordinated a series of National Integrity System country studies in collaboration with TI's Asia Pacific Department, and worked with the OECD-ADB Anti-Corruption Initiative on corruption risks in humanitarian aid following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, producing a volume co-edited with Gretta Fenner.
He is co-editor with economist Tina Søreide of the book "Corruption, Grabbing and Development: Real World Challenges" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014). He has also served as an external examiner for the University of Bergen and University of Oslo, and as a reviewer for international journals including "World Development", "International Forestry Review" and "Forum for Development Studies".
He holds a BA in the History of Ideas and English Literature from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury. Since September 2013 he is engaged in a part-time PhD at SOAS University of London, Department of Development Studies, supervised by Prof. Peter Mollinga. The PhD thesis provides a political ecology perspective on REDD+ as it is evolving in Indonesia.
His latest edited book is a collaboration with Prof. Philippe Le Billon at the University of British Columbia and Liu Institute for Global Issues, forthcoming in 2016.
Michael Rattinger
Climate Change Specialist
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development BankMichael joined the ADB Climate Change Coordination & Disaster Risk Management Unit (RSDD-CD) in May 2012 and works on climate change-related issues, focusing mainly on climate finance, policy, and technology.
Before coming to ADB, Michael worked as a Climate Change Economist for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. He previously worked as an energy and climate change consultant at Ecorys (formerly the Netherlands Economics Institute) in the Netherlands, and prior to that spent 3 years doing environmental, clean energy and climate change-related advisory work for various NGOs, private sector firms, and governmental authorities in Mexico. Michael has a Masters degree in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Justine Nicole V. Torres
Legal and Policy Specialist
Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University
Justine Nicole Torres is a Legal and Policy Specialist at the Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University, where she handles projects on human communities and biodiversity. In addition to the U4 study on corruption and REDD+, she was previously involved in the UN-REDD Programme's project to develop a Corruption Risk Assessment for REDD+ implementation in the Philippines.
Grizelda Gerthie Mayo-AndaExecutive DirectorEnvironmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC)Philippines
Gerthie is an environmental attorney with 25 years of field-based practice in environmental advocacy, education, governance and community-based resource management work in the Philippines. Her more than two decades of programmatic and managerial experience in various areas of non-profit work include policy development and advocacy for environmental governance, conservation and natural resources management, community development and human rights, fund raising for non profit environmental work, project cycle management/monitoring and evaluation, partnership building with local governments and private sector on concerns such as climate change, coastal resource management, clean air management and legislation, protected area establishment and management and community organizing work for natural resource management. She is Council Member of Alternative Law Groups (ALG) and Trustee of the Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP).
She has received several awards and commendations for environmental work, including the Bayanihan Award in March 2014 from the Western Command of Palawan, one from Conde Nast Traveller Magazine in July 2000 which selected her from a list of global candidates in recognition of her work with the Palawan indigenous communities and the establishment of ELAC; the Puerto Princesa City’s MAYOR’S AWARD for valuable contribution to sustainable development and environmental protection (March 1998); and Grant Fellowship Awardee, United States-Asia Environmental Fellowship (USAEP) Program (1994).
Gerthie is a Professor of Natural Resources, Environmental Law and Legal Ethics in the Palawan State University College of Law since 1995. She is lecturer/resource person on seminars/trainings organized by the Philippine Judicial Academy (Philja), Alternative Law Groups (ALG) and government agencies (eg. DENR, DA-BFAR and local government units) and academic institutions on environmental laws, new rules on the prosecution of environmental cases, coastal law enforcement, climate change. And has authored and co-authored various articles and publications on environmental policy, governance, community-based resource management, mining, corruption in relation to natural resource use (eg. U4 study on corruption and REDD+).
In 1990, she established the Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC), now one of the Philippine’s most active NGOs working to empower communities and local stakeholders to protect their natural resources; currently holding the post of Executive Director.
Gerthie finished law degree (cum laude) in 1985 at the San Jose de Recoletos, Cebu City and undergraduate degree in Accounting (cum laude) from St. Theresa’s College, Cebu City.
Daniel M. NicerAssistant Secretary for Internal Audit and Anti-CorruptionDepartment of Environment and Natural ResourcesPhilippines
Daniel Nicer is the youngest, yet the most senior Assistant Secretary of the DENR. He is the main author and implementer of the Anti-Corruption Program of the DENR. He has been handling personnel disciplinary cases for the past 15 years, and doing comprehensive anti-corruption work for the past 8 years. He was appointed as Career Executive Service Officer II by President Aquino in 2010.
He was a top graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law with the award of Best Legal Research Paper. After graduation, he became an Associate in a major Makati lawn firm for 3 years.
In 2002, he joined the DENR where he handled major cases filed with the Supreme Court. In 2005, he wrote a book on international environmental law published by the University of the Philippines Law Center, garnering him the award of Ozone Layer Champion in 2008 by the World Bank-funded Philippine Ozone Desk.
He is an invited lecturer on environmental law for judges, prosecutors, public attorneys and other officials in trainings conducted by the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court.
He is the Philippine representative to the international negotiations for the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES), the body that will process the best scientific information in the world for the purpose of protecting the remaining species in the planet and promote the welfare of mankind, especially in the face of global climate change. He gave crucial contributions to the establishment of the IPBES, including a new rule for international decision-making that resolves the common impasse on consensus-building, which the UNEP counsel called the “Philippine Solution”.
He is also currently the Acting Executive Officer of the Environmental Heroes Foundation, Inc. which was established under the leadership of former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno to help the bereaved families of environmental heroes.
Among his latest innovations is the conceptualization, creation and implementation of the E-Filing and Monitoring System for Illegal Logging and Wildlife Cases in the DENR, which is intended for transparency and minimization of corruption in these cases.
Heidi L. MendozaCommissionerCommission on AuditPhilippines
Heidi L. Mendoza is a Commissioner in the Commission on Audit (COA), the Philippines’ Supreme Audit Institution. Since 2012, COA has been implementing the Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA), a project that brings together government auditors and citizen groups in auditing selected public works projects in pursuit of transparency, accountability and participation. A joint initiative with the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, the CPA Project won the Bright Spots Award in the 2013 Open Government Partnership Summit in London, United Kingdom. In 2013, the Commission conducted an environmental audit using CPA on the implementation of environmental laws by Local Government Units (LGUs), the frontline agencies in carrying out environmental laws. The audit covered several barangays in Quezon City and focused on how the LGU complied with the Solid Waste Management Act.
Gerard Abeto Mosquera
Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon
Office of the Ombudsman, Government of the Philippines
Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard A. Mosquera obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila University with honors and placed second in the 1992 Bar Examinations.
He has a Master of Law degree (LLM) from Kings College London and a Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he graduated at the top 5% of the graduating class of 2010 and received the 2010 Littauer Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership.
He served as Commissioner and Head of the litigation department of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) from October 2010 to May 2012. He also served as a United Nations Adviser for Anti-Corruption and was Chief of Party of a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - funded anti-corruption project in the young country of Timor-Leste from 2004 to 2010. In these capacities, he helped to establish and organize three Timorese accountability institutions, the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of the Provedor (Ombudsman) and the country’s newly-created Anti-Corruption Commission, and provided training support for their technical staff.
A native of General Santos City, Deputy Ombudsman Mosquera started his law practice in the litigation department of the Carpio Villaraza and Cruz Law Offices in 1992 and eventually opened a law practice in his home city in 1995 where he engaged in criminal and civil litigation work. He was elected by his peers and served as Chapter President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines of South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City, from 1999 to 2001.
Deputy Ombudsman Mosquera has dedicated the last twelve years of his professional life to fighting corruption as a practitioner and an international adviser and his preferred areas of focus are criminal litigation, anti-corruption investigation, stolen assets recovery and judicial and legal reform.
He is married to Dr. Myra Nissa P. Mosquera, a dentist by profession, and has four children, Luis, 20, Isabela, 18, Jericho, 16, and Franco, 13. He is the grandson of former Secretary of Justice Quirico M. Abeto under the administration of President Manuel L. Quezon.
