Keynote Speakers

Plenary Speakers (Day 1)

Plenary Speakers (Day 2)

Keynote and Plenary Speakers Bio-Notes

Dr. Don Anton Robles Balida

Chair of the Collaboration Committee

International College of Engineering and Management, Muscat City, Oman.

Dr. Don Anton Robles Balida has taught Marketing Research, Academic Writing, and Research Methods apart from being the Chair of Research and Co-Curricular Activities Coordinator at Oman Tourism College. He published a textbook “The ABC of Research Writing: Applied -Basic –Contextualized’ and is now available on Amazon. This book was inspired by the many struggles of his research advisees and research methodology students. He co-authored the three chapters of the book ‘Mixed Methods Perspectives on Communication and Social Media Research’ recently published by Routledge of Taylor & Francis Group. He holds a Ph.D. in English and has taught in the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Mainland China, Macao SAR, and Oman. In addition, he has published research papers related to eLearning, blended or remote learning, covid19 protocols, social media, and marketing. He is also an active reviewer and editorial board member of international journals. Presently, he is teaching at the Higher Education Department and Chair of the Collaboration Committee of the International College of Engineering and Management, Muscat City, Oman.

Dr. Josette T. Biyo

Director

Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute

DR. JOSETTE TALAMERA-BIYO is the first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award during the 2002 Excellence in Teaching Competition in Kentucky, USA. This feat also earned her a minor planet named in her honor, “Planet Biyo”, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory.

For over two decades, she taught science in her hometown in Iloilo. She was a pioneering science research teacher at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS)-Western Visayas Campus. She later became its Campus Director, then Executive Director of the PSHS System, and now the Director of the Science Education Institute of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology (DOST-SEI).

A multi-awarded science educator, Dr. Biyo is also an artist. She paints and writes poems. She is married to Engr. Nonito Biyo and has two sons who are both science scholars: Jono Angelo, a cybersecurity expert, and Julian Paolo, who is into digital arts and animation.

Dr. Yung-Cheol Byun

Director, Institute of Information and Science Technology

Jeju National University, South Korea

Dr. Yungcheol Byun is a full professor at the Computer Engineering Department (CE) at Jeju National University. His research interests include the areas of AI & Machine Learning, Pattern Recognition, Blockchain and Deep Learning-based Applications, Big Data and Knowledge Discovery, Time Series Data Analysis and Prediction, Intelligent Agent, Image Processing and Medical Applications, and Recommendation Systems. He directs the Machine Learning Laboratory at the Computer Engineering Department. Recently, he had research activities at University of Florida as a visiting professor from 2012 to 2014. He is currently serving as a director of Information Science Technology Institute, a director of Advanced Science Technology Research Center of Jeju National University, and other academic societies.

Outside of his research activities, Dr. Byun has been hosting international conferences including CNSI (Computer, Network, Systems, and Industrial Engineering), ICESI (Electric Vehicle, Smart Grid, and Information Technology), and serving as a conference and workshop chair, program chair, and session chair in various international conferences and workshops.

Dr. Byun was born in Jeju, Korea, and received his Ph.D. and MS from Yonsei University in 1995 and 2001 respectively, and BS from Jeju National University in 1993. Before joining Jeju National University, he worked as a special lecturer in SAMSUNG Electronics in 2000 and 2001. From 2001 to 2003, he was a senior researcher of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). He was promoted to join Jeju National University as an assistant professor in 2003.

Bencharat Sae Chua

Faculty,Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies

Mahidol University, Thailand

Bencharat Sae Chua is a lecturer at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand. She received her PhD in Politics from La Trobe University, Australia, with a thesis that explored how community forest movements redefined citizenship rights of the forest dwellers and the Thai citizens in general. Her research interests include the culture of human rights, social movements, and citizenship rights. With the recent political conflict in Thailand, she also focuses on the contention over the meanings of democracy and human rights, and the state of human rights under authoritarian regimes.

She has been active in promoting human rights education, both through the post-graduate degrees the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies is offering, and through human rights education training and workshops she runs with civil society organizations in Thailand and in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Djuwari Sarkawi

Faculty, English Department

Faculty of Education, Universitas Nahdtul Ulama Surubaya (UNUSA) Indonesia

DR. Djuwari is an Associate Professor at Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Surabaya (UNUSA), Indonesia.

His formal Education are as follows:
1. Undergraduate in Language Education from State Institute of Teacher Training and Education (UNESA) Surbaya in 1987.
2. Master Degree in Applied Linguistics (Language Education) from Katholic University Atmajaya Jakarta in 1997.
3. Doctoral Degree in Language Education from State University, Malang in 2009.
4.He is the President of International Association of Scholarly Publishers, Editors, and Reviewers (IASPER).

He has been active in keynote speakership globally both offline and online mode in some countries and continents.

He is also the contributors of some International magazines and newspapers in California, Bangalore, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Achim Dobermann

Chief Scientist

International Fertilizer Association (IFA), Paris, France

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/achim-dobermann-2549a36b/

Dr. Luis Dumlao

Acting Dean, John Gokongwei School of Management

Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights Campus

Dr. Chloe A. Hamza

Assistant Professor

Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto

Dr. Mary Precy Aguilar – Lego

Department of Leadership and Organisational Agility

College of Business and Economics, United Arab Emirates University

Dr. Mary Precy Aguilar – Lego has been involved in international higher education for more than 27 years. She has a PhD in Management from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia and holds a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning from RMIT, Australia. She completed her MBA in General Management (Thesis programme) and her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce with academic distinction at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City.

Dr Aguilar-Lego has been involved in Australian transnational higher education administration in Thailand and Vietnam. She was the Country Programme Coordinator of the Victoria University – Kasertsat University Dual Degree programmes; The University of Queensland and Naresuan University Dual Degree in International Trade programme; and the Southern Cross University – Naresuan Univesity Masters in International Tourism which was the first dual degree programme in Thailand in 1999. She was actively involved in curriculum development in programmes like Tourism Management, Human Resources Management, Accounting and Business Management. She was awarded the RMIT University Teaching Award High Commendation in 2007.

Dr Aguilar-Lego was among the 40 Doctoral students around the world mentored by renowned International Business scholars during the Academy of International Business and Sheth Foundation Doctoral Student Consortium in 2017. Her research interests include business education, international higher education, IntELS (internationally educated local staff), international human resources management, organisational commitment, and First Year Higher Education (FYHE). She is one of the founding members of the Council of Educators in the UAE.

Dr. Ludy Sta. Maria-Llasus

Associate Professor

Nevada State College School of Nursing, Henderson, Nevada

Research: Her research focus is on knowledge translation and the integration of Caring Science in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

Teaching, Leadership, and Clinical:
Dr. Llasus has more than 17 years of experience in academia. She has taught in the undergraduate BSN program, post graduate RN-to-BSN program and served as preceptor for Nurse Practitioner students at the graduate level. She has been a major force in the establishment of the nursing curriculum and programmatic infrastructure at NSC. Her tenure as an academic leader serving as Interim Dean, Associate Dean, and Pre-Licensure Director for the baccalaureate program at NSC were instrumental in the expansion of the RN to BSN and the pre-licensure BSN programs. She is a Watson Caring Science Institute Caritas Coach.

Dr. Llasus is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with 20 years’ experience in primary care and has maintained an active practice in delivering primary care in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dr. Jose Ernie Lope

Director, Institute of Mathematics

University of the Philippines Diliman

Jose Ernie Lope obtained his bachelor’s degree in mathematics (summa cum laude) from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. For close to three decades, he has been doing research on the theory of partial differential equations, but has time and again also dabbled in applied and computational mathematics.

He was National Champion of the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO) and represented the country in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) in 1994. He later returned the favor by serving the local math community as Director of the PMO in 2011-2013 and as Team Leader of the Philippine delegation to the IMO in 2013-2015. He is currently the President of the Mathematical Society and a member of the editorial board of Matimyas Matematika, the society’s official journal.

He has been recognized by the National Academy of Science and Technology for excellence in research and by UP Diliman for excellence in teaching. He was recently conferred the Achievement Award in Mathematical Sciences by the National Research Council of the Philippines. He now heads the UP Diliman Institute of Mathematics, his home unit since his undergraduate years.

Dr. Norsida Binti Man

Associate Professor

Department of Agribusines and Bioresources Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia

Associate Professor Dr. Norsida Man born in September, 1970 and working as lecturer at Department of Agribusiness and Bioresources Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia. She was awarded the PhD (2003) and Master in Agricultural Economics and Management (1999) and Bachelor Degree in Agricultural System Engineering (1994) from Kagoshima University, Japan. Her fields of specialization are Agriculture Extension, Agriculture Development, Agriculture Economics and Management. 13 PhD and 26 Master students were graduated under her supervision. Her professional achievement are: 1) Director of ASEAN Service Learning Programme (SLP) Malaysia Chapter for ASEAN Service Learning Programme (SLP) between UPM Malaysia, Rajamaggala University of Technology, Thanyaburi, Thailand and Bogor Agricultural Institute University, Indonesia; 2) Awardee of Professorial Chair Scholarship SEARCA; 3) Malaysia Reprensentative 9th Annual Meeting Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services 2018; 4) Global Forum Membar for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS); 5) Malaysia Chapter Advisor Rural Advisory Services for South East Asia (RASSEA); 6) Committee Member of International Society for South East Asian Agricultural Science (ISSAAS); and 7) Deputy President of Malaysia Agriculture Economics Association (MAEA) and many more. She published 138 academic journal papers, two (2) books, eight (8) chapters of book and her current H-Index Scopus  is 6.

Dr. Christopher Millora

Senior Research Associate

University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

Dr. Chris Millora is Senior Research Associate and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow with the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation based at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Chris is leading the project ‘Literacies of Dissent: youth activism, learning and social change’ – exploring the literacy and learning dimensions of youth social action in the Philippines and Chile. Chris is also Chair of BALID (British Association for Literacy in Development).

His research interests sit at the intersection of youth literacies and community development. He conducts research on the participation of marginalised communities, for instance, through volunteering and social activism, (particularly in Global South contexts) and how such processes cultivate and/or confine members’ learning processes and personal transformation. He employs ethnographic, participatory and participatory action research methods. Learn more about his research and publications at: www.chrismillora.com.

He holds a PhD in Education at the University of East Anglia, UK and a joint MA in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management from the Danish School of Education (Copenhagen), University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain) and UCL Institute of Education (London, UK). He graduated BS Nursing at West Visayas State University.

Dr. Bhabita V. Murjani

Associate Professor

College of Dentistry, University of the Philippines, Manila

Dr Bhabita (Bette) Murjani is currently an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry and served as chair for Basic Dental Health Sciences from July 2016 to July 2022.

She obtained her degree of Doctor in Dental Medicine in 1991 from the University of the Philippines and obtained her Master’s in Health Professions Education from the University of the Philippines, National Teachers Training Center in 2005. She attended the Summer School for Clinical Periodontology and Implantology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany in 2008 and obtained a certificate in Basic Implantology from the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry in 2010. She had been awarded the One UP Professorial Chair for teaching and extension service last 2016 and 2019.

Dr. Murjani is a Fellow of the Philippine Board of Periodontology and is a member of the Asia Pacific Society of Periodontology and continues to practice her profession.
She has published several research papers in the field of education and periodontology and has likewise participated in poster presentations in the FDI World Congress in 2018 and in IADR- SEA in 2020.

Noel C. Salvoza, Msc, MD

Ph.D. Fellow

Fondazione Italiana Fegato (Italian Liver Foundation) and University of Trieste, Italy

Born and raised in Leon, Iloilo, Philippines, Dr. Salvoza completed his Bachelors in Biology from the University of the Philippines – Visayas. He is a Doctor of Medicine graduate from West Visayas State University (WVSU) and holds a Master’s Degree in Molecular Medicine from St. Luke’s Medical Center – College of Medicine. Both of his degrees were acquired through scholarship grants from WVSU and DOST-PCHRD, respectively. He is currently a PhD fellow at Fondazione Italiana Fegato (Italian Liver Foundation) and University of Trieste, Italy. His PhD project involves translational approaches in studying Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) such as the in silico strategies, in vitro models (2D co-culture, 3D organoids, precision-cut liver slices), in vivo animal models, and ex-vivo explant models.  Other interests include researches on natural products, dengue virus, and chikungunya virus. He has presented and published some of his research works in both local and international conferences and has garnered recognition in several of them. He is an aspiring physician-scientist who wants to be a hepatologist in the future and to pursue postdoc studies in molecular hepatology abroad. In his spare time, he is a passionate travel advocate who has visited 25 countries (and counting!).

Dr. Reynaldo G. Segumpan

Head of the Department of Business Administration

College of Applied Sciences, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Ibri, Sultanate of Oman

Dr. Segumpan has published more than 100 multi-disciplinary papers in peer-reviewed journals, edited books (e.g., Routledge/Taylor & Francis, Springer, Elsevier, SAGE), and conference proceedings in the US, UK, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore, to name a few. He is a Chartered Manager and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, UK; Chartered Scientist of the Science Council, UK; Fellow of the Institute of Science & Technology, UK; and, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. Dr. Segumpan served as one of the Workshop Directors during GRM 2019 and 2022 in the University of Cambridge, UK and a Delegate to the 2018 Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations in Harvard University, USA.

Dr. Iris Thiele Isip-Tan

Chief of the UP Medical Informatics Unit (MIU)

University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine

Dr. Iris Thiele Isip-Tan is a professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine, Chief of the UP Medical Informatics Unit (MIU), Director of the UP Manila Interactive
Learning Center and Chair of the UP Manila Telehealth Committee. She is a practicing internist endocrinologist with a master’s degree in Health Informatics.

Her research interests include medical education, mobile health, consumer health informatics and telehealth. Under her leadership, health Informatics graduate students, alumni and MIU faculty put together telemedicine guidance documents for Filipino physicians and patients in April 2020. Dr. Isip-Tan believes in the scholarly use of social media and is currently enrolled as a PhD student in Health Sciences by research, with her work focused on social media misinformation. Dr. Isip Tan was the first recipient of the UP System Gawad Pangulo Award for Progressive Teaching & Learning in 2015. She was recognized as UP Scientist I in the 2019 UP Scientific Productivity System. She completed the World Health Organization global infodemic manager training in the inaugural batch of 2020. In 2021, she was recognized by the
Metrobank Foundation as an Outstanding Filipino (Higher Education).

She blogs at www.endocrine-witch.net and is known as Dok Bru on Facebook and Youtube, posting in Filipino about diabetes, thyroid and other endocrine disorders. She co-founded the first Filipino healthcare-related tweet chat #HealthXPH, which convenes the annual Philippine Healthcare & Social Media Summit with the Philippine Council for Health Research & Development (PCHRD). In 2014, she received the Philippine College of Physicians Presidential Award for Social Media Advocacy. Her blog won Best Blog Post of the Year and People’s Choice Award for Health & Fitness at the 2015 Philippine Blogging Awards. She also received the Health Exemplar Award for Health Communications from Health & Lifestyle magazine in 2017.

Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez

President

Utah Valley University

Her pursuit of education eventually took her to the United States, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Russian literature from Brigham Young University (1986). She later earned a master’s degree from Harvard University in Soviet Studies (1988) and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in political science (1996).

Before UVU, President Tuminez was an executive at Microsoft, where she led corporate, external, and legal affairs in Southeast Asia. She also served as vice dean of research at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She has worked in philanthropy and venture capital in New York City and is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of Russian Nationalism Since 1856: Ideology and the Making of Foreign Policy and many other publications. She and her husband, Jeffrey S. Tolk, have three children. In her spare time, she enjoys running, dancing, and traveling.

Local Government Officials

Hon. Jerry P. Treñas 

Mayor

Iloilo City, Iloilo, Philippines

Mayor Treñas earned his Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science Degree at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1978. He pursued Bachelor of Laws at Ateneo School of Law and graduated with Honors. He placed 11th in the 1982 Bar Examinations.

He served as three-termer Mayor from 2001 to 2010 and voted President of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) from 2004 to 2007 and LCP chairman from 2007 to 2010.

His leadership ushered BPO boom with Iloilo City as Next Wave City in terms of economic development and Dinagyang Festival as Hall of Fame Best Tourism Event in the Philippines. He also fostered active and strong Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) which have been recognized by the Asian Development Bank’s Best Practice Award on Government-Private Sector NGO Cooperation in 2006.

He then served three straight terms in the 15th to 17th Congress before he came back as Mayor in July 2019.
He sits as Member of the Board of Trustees of Cities Development Initiative for Asia from 2009 up to the present.

He also sat as Member of the Board of Trustees of Institute for Solidarity in Asia from 2007 to 2010. Iloilo City is the only organization from the Philippines to be inducted in the 2009 Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy in Business Excellence during the Asia Pacific Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2009.

Treñas was also chosen Executive Committee Member of the International Council for Local Initiatives in Toronto, Canada from 2007 to 2010.

Hon. Arthur R. Defensor Jr.

Governor

Province of Iloilo, Philippines

Prior to his election as the Governor of the Province of Iloilo on 13 May 2019, Arthur R. Defensor, Jr. served as three-term member of the House of the Representatives, becoming Deputy Majority Leader during his last term.

A lawyer by profession, he is a founding partner of the Defensor, Enrile and Mata Law Offices (SEDALAW), a law firm specializing in commercial law. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, College of Law in 1998; and his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy degree from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezen City.

As a lawmaker, Defensor has authored various bills of national significance, including Republic Act No. 11213 or the Tax Amnesty Act of 2019, Republic Act No. 10969 or the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act, Republic Act No. 11206 or the Career Guidance and Counseling Act, and Republic Act No. 11194 or the Gabaldon School Buildings Conservation Act, among others.

He also served as member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Iloilo from 2007 to 2010, and was the principal author of the 2010 Provincial Revenue Code of Iloilo. He was also once a member of the board of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco).

Defensor is married to Ma. Michaela Camacho Defensor, with whom he has a son, Lorenzo Arturo.