The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the East Asian Seas (EAS)
Partnership Council have named Professor Raphael P. M. Lotilla as the new
Regional Programme Director of the PEMSEA Regional Programme and the Executive
Director of the PEMSEA Resource Facility beginning May 2008.
Prof. Lotilla brings with him 22 years of experience in multidisciplinary,
multiagency, and multistakeholder partnerships in a national and regional
context. He served in the Philippine government as the Secretary of Energy from
2005 to 2007, where he steered the government's energy independence and power
sector reform agenda.
As Undersecretary for the National Economic Development Authority of the
Philippines (1996-2003), he served as Coordinator of the Philippine Council for
Sustainable Development and led a multistakeholder process in the formulation of
Philippine Agenda 21.
Prof. Lotilla leads PEMSEA towards achieving its priority targets to 2015 which
includes strengthening coastal and ocean governance through national policy and
program transformation in at least 70 percent of PEMSEA participating countries;
and advancing sustainable development of coastal lands and waters in at least 20
percent of the region’s coastline though integrated coastal management (ICM)
program implementation.
Prof. Lotilla began his academic career in law at the University of the
Philippines (UP) in 1985 and served as Director of the Institute of
International Legal Studies of the UP Law Center and Vice-President for Public
Affairs. He was appointed Professor of Law in 1995. Prof. Lotilla earned his
undergraduate degrees in Psychology and History, a Bachelor of Laws degree from
the University of the Philippines, and a Master of Laws degree from the
University of Michigan Law School. As law professor, he taught courses including
Constitutional Law, International Law, International Economic Law, the Law of
the Sea and Citizenship. He also taught Treaties and Other International
Agreements at the Ateneo de Manila University Law School shortly after he
resigned from the Cabinet. Prof. Lotilla has participated in regional
initiatives on ocean policy and regional cooperation.
About PEMSEA
PEMSEA was first established in 1993 as the Regional Programme on the Prevention
and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas. In 1999, it entered
its second phase as the Regional Programme on Partnerships in Environmental
Management for the Seas of East Asia. PEMSEA was transformed from a
project-based initiative into a regional coordinating mechanism for the
implementation of the SDS-SEA in December 2006. Participating countries of
PEMSEA are Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan,
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, People’s Republic of China, Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
The objective of PEMSEA is to coordinate and support the efforts of
participating governments and non-state partners to develop and manage the
coastal and marine environment and resources of the Seas of East Asia in a
sustainable manner in accordance with the Sustainable Development Strategy for
the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA). The SDS-SEA was adapted by participating
countries in 2003, as their common framework for managing marine and coastal
resources sustainably, as well as a platform for intergovernmental and
multisectoral cooperation. PEMSEA receives financial support from the Global
Environment Facility through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as the executing
agency.