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University of the Philippines Diliman | College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

Leonardo De Castro, PhD (Swansea)

He previously served as Department Chair and Centennial Professor at the UP Department of Philosophy. He was Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore and Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bioethics Review. He chairs the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board, the national body that sets policies and regulates research ethics committees in the country. He sits on the National Ethics Committee. He has served on the National Bioethics Advisory Committee and the National Transplant Ethics Committee. He has been President of the Asian Bioethics Association, Vice-Chair of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee, Vice-Chair of the Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia and the Pacific, and a Bioethics Consultant to the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the European Union and the European Commission. His research interests include research ethics, responsible conduct of research, bioethics teaching, organ transplantation, healthcare worker migration and resource allocation.

Selected Publications:

Agerico Montecillo De Villa, MA

  • Has taught for 35 years at UP Diliman Philosophy Department.
  • Has been a lecturer at the UP Diliman College of Science and College of Human Kinetics.
  • Has been a lecturer at the Claret Seminary and the Philippine Women’s University.
  • Has authored two books for Katha Publications and a book for UP Press.
  • Has been a member of the DENR-EMB Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee from 1991 to 2020.
  • Presently board of directors member of Tayabas Western Academy.
  • Presently president of Batangas Eastern Colleges.
  • Presently chairman of ICT start-up company Bridge360, Inc.

Karen Connie Abalos-Orendain, PhD

Brief Bio

𝐃𝐫. 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐬-𝐎𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧 finished her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of the Philippines. Her undergraduate thesis topic is on Journalism Ethics as viewed in the Philippine setting. Afterwards, she immediately started teaching in her home university as an Instructor, where she served for seven years before she became a writer for a local entertainment channel. She then became a writer and editor for various websites and magazines.

In 2012, she received the Monbukagakusho  or the Japanese Government Scholarship enabling her to finish her graduate and doctoral studies in Kobe University. Her thesis and dissertation focused on an analysis of cosmopolitan norms and the rights of migrant workers. In 2018, she returned to the University of the Philippines, Diliman where she teaches Socio-Political Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Comparative and Japanese Philosophy as well as Contemporary Philosophy.

She is an Associate Editor for several journals including: Social Science Diliman, Lumina, and Philippine Social Sciences Review. In 2021 & 2022 she was awarded the UP Diliman Centennial Faculty Grant and also a recipient of the ONE UP Professorial Chair Award in Applied Ethics for Outstanding Teaching and Public Service (2022-2024). From 2021-2023, she served as the Chair of the Department of Philosophy.