The Fellows

Atty. Alcantara specializes in competition, investment and innovation law. She is the managing partner of Abad Alcantara and Associates. She is also a policy consultant and program director of the startup ecosystem development program of the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry. Atty. Alcantara holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law.

Dr. Eduardo Araral Jr. is a public policy scholar and practitioner with three decades of experience in academia, government, and international advisory work across Asia. He is a tenured Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and has held senior academic leadership roles while advising governments and development institutions on governance, public finance, economic development, artificial intelligence, and public-sector reform.

Atty. Elaine Marie M. Collado is a lawyer and public policy professional with over 25 years of experience in government, private practice, policy advocacy, and strategic communications, particularly in investment liberalization and public-private partnerships. She currently serves as Country Director and President of Vriens & Partners Philippines, where she leads the firm’s Philippine operations, commercial growth, and engagement with senior government officials and regional and global clients.

Dr. Corpuz is a recognized urban-regional planner and currently serves as a Board Director of Ayala Land. He also served as Adviser for various government agencies and international development agencies on urban-regional policies, local economic development, settlements planning, land use, environmental planning and disaster risk reduction. He is a former President of the Philippine Economic Society. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines and his MRP and PhD degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University.

Atty. Disini is a go-to name in the field of information and technology law in the Philippines, focusing on technology law, cybercrime, and data privacy. He founded the Disini Buted Disini Law Offices and is currently its Managing Partner. Atty. Disini is an alumnus of Harvard Law School; an Associate Professor at the UP College of Law; and the Chair of the Philippine Judicial Academy’s Court Technology Department.

Ms. Lim Tan is an international finance and development professional with more than 20 years of experience in senior roles at the Asian Development Bank, where she worked with governments and private entities across Southeast, South, Central, and West Asia, particularly in infrastructure and financial-sector development. She currently serves as an independent board member of Maya Bank, Inc., Dominion Holdings, Inc., and Sagittarius Mines, Inc. She was also appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as an inaugural board member of the Maharlika Investment Corporation, where she served for one and a half years. She holds an MBA and a BS in Business Administration and Accountancy from the University of the Philippines and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the National University of Singapore.

Dr. Montes’ career includes 25 years in a major international bank with his last position being the Head of Public Sector Group of Citibank Philippines. He has a PhD in Business Economics from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania and was named as TOYM Awardee for Economics in 1992.

Atty. Pe is a senior partner at Romulo Mabanta, dean of the Palawan Sate University School of Law, and Honorary Consul of Denmark. He leads various projects in the fields of energy, infrastructure, mining, oil and gas exploration, telecommunications, government privatization, and other private-public partnership (PPP) or build-operate-transfer (BOT) transactions.

Dr. Soriano has served in the Office of the Prime Minister, Department of Finance (Undersecretary, 1991-98) and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (Trustee, 2011-16). She has also taught at the Ateneo de Manila University and served in its Board of Trustees (1998-2007). She is an independent consultant and is currently assisting the Department of Finance in setting up the Philippine Tax Academy. She obtained her PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988.

Mr. Gary Teves served as Secretary of the Department of Finance from 2005 to 2010, for which he was awarded “Finance Minister of the Year for Asia” by The Banker in 2009. From 2000 to 2005, he was President and CEO of Land Bank of the Philippines, which became the third largest bank in the country under his leadership. He also served as Representative of the 3rd District of Negros Oriental for three consecutive terms (1987-1998) and authored laws on trade, investment, fiscal and financial reforms, and countryside development. He earned a degree in Business Economics from the City London of College and a Master’s Degree in Development Economics from Williams College.