Opening Remarks
Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Washington D.C.
Featured Speakers
Craig Hart, Deputy Assistant Administrator for East Asia and the Pacific at USAID
Craig is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia. Prior to joining the Bureau, he served as the USAID Deputy Mission Director in Vietnam from 2016 to 2020. Prior to this he attended the National War College in Washington, DC and served in various program officer roles for USAID in Tanzania, Afghanistan, Georgia, and Washington D.C. Before joining USAID, Mr. Hart served with the U.S. Peace Corps from 1995-2005. Mr. Hart received a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College, a Master’s degree in Education Administration from the University of Vermont, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky.
Ma. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, President of the National Resilience Council
Ma. Antonia “Toni” YuloLoyzaga is the President of the National Resilience Council, a science and technology based public private partnership in the Philippines, aimed at the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. She is a member of the United Nations International Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Asia Pacific Scientific and Technology Academia Advisory Group (APSTAG). She also serves as Trustee of the Manila Observatory andmember of the Science Advisory Board of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk International Center of Excellence-Taipei (IRDR ICoE). Toni is a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Forest Foundation Philippines which was established under bilateral agreements between the US and the Philippines through the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act.
Rene Meily, President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation
Rene “Butch” Meily is the President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a private sector disaster management organization that includes many of the major business groups in the country. Under his leadership, PDRF has become a global model used by the UN as a showcase for local business disaster response networks. Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), his parent company, received the 2016 Prince of Wales Business in Community UPS International Disaster Relief Prize for its work in mobilizing PDRF during Super Typhoon Haiyan. PDRF currently operates the world’s only national private sector Emergency Operations Center.
Moderated by
William Wise, Non-resident Fellow and Chair of the Southeast Asia Forum, the Stimson Center
This event is co-hosted with the U.S. – Philippines Society.
