The Department of Trade and industry continues to strengthen its industry development and policy arm with the two (2) recent appointments of experts on economics and trade policies, joining the ranks of trade officials under the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group headed by Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. Early this year, Dr. Ceferino Rodolfo was appointed Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Rodolfo served as Vice Dean and Acting Dean of School of Management at University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) from 2009 to 2013 and was part of its core faculty for Competitive Strategy and Business Economics. Asec. Rodolfo’s expertise includes trade policy, industrial policy, and international trade and negotiations. Dr. Rodolfo earned his degree on Economics from the University of the Philippines. Asec. Rodolfo completed his PhD in Public Administration at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and earned his Masters of Science Degree in Industrial Economics at Center for Research and Communication (now UA&P). Asec. Rodolfo has more than 15 years of experience in the areas of trade and industry policy (research, teaching, policy advocacy), and industry and sector competitiveness, for various organizations including academic research networks, government agencies, and development partners. His areas of expertise are Policy research and analysis, especially in the context of trade (e.g. trade in goods, trade in services and trade facilitation), trade negotiations, and competitiveness and industrial policy formulation; design and conduct of capacity building activities, especially in the area of trade, under various contexts: development partner interventions for public agencies, professional training for private sector, and academic courses for graduate students; Strategic planning design, facilitation, and monitoring, both in the context of private sector organizations and public agencies; and, Design, implementation and delivery, and evaluation of development program actions.
Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba, on the other, was recently appointed as Assistant Secretary for Industry Development. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Aldaba served as Acting Vice President of the state think-tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) from 2012 to 2013. From her stint at PIDS, she became a trade facilitation expert and team leader at the Asian Development Bank, and served as Project Manager for various inter-agency research projects from 1991 to 2009.
In PIDS, she had written several papers focusing on the ASEAN Economic Integration, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Trade Liberalization, Competition Policy, Industrial policies, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). Asec. Aldaba earned her PhD and Master of Arts Degree in Economics at University of the Philippines and took up Bachelor of Science in Business Economics in UP. She also attended advanced studies in International Economic Policy Research at Kiel Institute of World Economics, Germany in 1989. "The appointments of Drs. Rodolfo and Aldaba are timely as they are necessary, now that we are at the high point of elevating our trade engagements with our traditional and pioneering trade partners, while we work to improve our country’s competitiveness through the Industry Roadmaps Project. Their expertise and involvement in both these processes will contribute greatly in achieving our goals for industry development and policy reform,” Usec. Cristobal said. (DTI).
