The Secretariat
Marlene Ramirez
Secretary General
Marlene D. Ramirez is Secretary General of the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (AsiaDHRRA) from 1999 to present. She began working for rural development and poverty eradication in the Philippines with PhilDHRRA in 1987 and was Executive Director from 1993-1998. Both at national and regional levels, her expertise covers civil society network development and management, program development and implementation, resource building and mobilization, strategic partnerships, and policy advocacy. In 1999, she pursued AsiaDHRRA’s aspiration of catalyzing a regional farmers’ alliance, now an autonomous body called Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA) serving millions of farmers in Asia.
From 2012 to 2020, Marlene sat in the Board of AgriCord global alliance of agri-agencies providing direct financing and advising to farmers/fishers’ organizations, and anchors the representation of the Alliance in the Asian region. From 2010 to date, she represent AsiaDHRRA as interlocutor for civil society engagement with FAO-RAP, and sits in the Civil Society Governance Council of Grow Asia.
Marlene represents AsiaDHRRA in the Coordinating Conference on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCCOM), has led the drafting of ASEAN Rural Develoment and Poverty Eradication Framework Action Plan 2011-2015 and the external Mid-term Review of the ASEAN Socio Cultural Community Blueprint in 2013.
She currently oversees the implementation of a regional cooperation to empower rural development organizations in Southeast Asia under a five-year Framework Partnership Agreement with EU. She is a graduate of BS Industrial Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology and has Masters Degree in Public Management from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Governance.
Lorna David
Finance and Admin Manager
Lorna David is the Finance Manager of AsiaDHRRA for years. With 40 years of experience in Financial Management, she is an expert in Accounting which includes record keeping; set up of financial systems and procedures; establishment of internal control procedures; funds management; electronic environment accounting; and, training. In Auditing, includes financial; management; and, systems and procedures. Moreover, she possesses wide range of competencies in: Project (Financial) Monitoring & Evaluation; Conflict Management Facilitation; Project Management Financial Set-up; Financial and Treasury; Taxation; Resource Development & Mobilization; Event Management; and, Training.
Lorna is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and, an accredited Tax Practitioner by the Philippines’ Board of Accountancy.
She graduated as Cum Laude in the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce – Accounting degree.
Florante Villas
Senior Program Manager
Florante Jesus Villas is a Program Manager of AsiaDHRRA. He has 30 years of experience in rural, agricultural, and, social development work in Southeast Asia, in which 25 consecutive years have been focused on the management and supervision of program operations for sustainable agriculture, community-based primary health, food security, environment, coastal resource protection, rural enterprises, agricultural marketing, and, participation in local governance community-based development projects.
He is an expert in implementing projects and programs on agrarian/asset reform, sustainable agriculture, coastal resources management, food security and nutrition, enterprise development, improving value chain governance and market access.
More so, he has an extensive experience in strengthening and building capacities of agricultural cooperatives farmer organizations and commodity-based small farmers’ organizations and their participation in local governance and market engagements.
Cezar Belangel
Senior Program Manager
Cezar Belangel is AsiaDHRRA’s Program Manager from 2014 to present. His various NGO experience for almost 34 years makes him an expert in (1) project management, specifically in: training, coaching, and capacity building. Also, in (2) organizational management, specifically in: Administration and Finance, budget, and, investment.
He first worked in rural development with Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Caceres as Community Organizer among fisherfolks and farmers, team supervisor, coordinator of farmer’s federation, and trainer from 1984 to 1990. In the next 3 years he managed the first Community Forestry Program under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in a local NGO, Pag-Asang Bicolnon Foundation, Inc. Cezar Belangel is AsiaDHRRA’s Program Manager from 2014 to present.
His various NGO experience for almost 34 years makes him an expert in (1) project management, specifically in: training, coaching, and capacity building. Also, in (2) organizational management, specifically in: Administration and Finance, budget, and, investment.
He first worked in rural development with Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Caceres as Community Organizer among fisherfolks and farmers, team supervisor, coordinator of farmer’s federation, and trainer from 1984 to 1990. In the next 3 years he managed the first Community Forestry Program under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in a local NGO, Pag-Asang Bicolnon Foundation, Inc.
Luz Angeles Blanco
Program Officer for Research
Luz Angeles Almagro-Blanco (Luchie) is currently AsiaDHRRA’s Program Officer; she was deployed by AsiaDHRRA to help in the organizational strengthening and development of MyanDHRRA in Myanmar for a combined period of 10 months in 2017 and 2018.
She joined PhilDHRRA, a DHRRA member in the Philippines, in mid-1989 and served in various capacities including Coordinatorship for the Visayas region for 11 years until late 2014. She possesses a range of experience in community-based project management and implementation of various types of projects e.g. health, agriculture, fisheries, environment, women and gender, and governance working with primary NGOs, the sectors of farmers, fishers, rural women, and youth in partnership with local government units and government agencies.
Her most recent work experience also include humanitarian work, disaster risk management and climate change planning in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Her interests are in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. She has mobilized resources for small, medium, and large scale projects in the span for almost 3 decades; her project development work experience resulted in the approval of 1 of only 4 projects (in March 2018) competing against close to a hundred project applications nation-wide, which the Philippine National Government under its climate adaptation financing window, the People Survival Fund, granted funding support close to US$ 500,000 for 2 years.
She earned her BA Economics at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City; she received her graduate studies with specialization in environment and sustainable development from the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2011.
Affan Firmansiyah
Program Officer for Agri-Enterprise Development
Cel Bitong
Knowledge Management Consultant
Gundina Sales
Finance Officer
Sharon Lafita
Accounting Officer
Arlynn Contreras
HR-OD Consultant
Contracted Services
Mr. Jet Hermida, IT Services
