Cyndy Tan Jarabata
Chairperson (Philippines)
President, TAJARA Leisure & Hospitality Group Inc.
Cyndy Tan Jarabata
Cyndy Tan Jarabata has diverse experience extending 20 years in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry being involved in acquisition, hotel development, marketing and asset management. TAJARA is a leading hospitality consulting and development company working with investment firms and property developers in the Philippines, and serving clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, China and Thailand. Its in-depth knowledge and experience in mainstream and emerging markets guide owners and investors in making strategic decisions and provide local intelligence to facilitate the project’s development process. TAJARA also publishes 7107 Insider, a newsletter and blog, that guides stakeholders on hospitality, property and tourism investments in the Philippines.
Jaime A. Cura, Ph.D.
Vice-Chairman of the RGV Group of Companies
Jaime A. Cura, Ph.D.
Jimmy Cura is currently Vice-Chairman of the RGV Group of Companies (a one-stop-shop for real estate appraisal, brokerage, development and management), Chairman and President of Neo Calapan Realty Corporation (a developer of mass housing and urban communities), Chief Executive Officer of CREBA Land Services & Title Warranty Corp., and consultant to several real estate development companies. Schooled in Manila, Philippines, and Boston, USA, he has served his country as a senior government official, and as chairman, president, or CEO of various businesses in engineering consulting, real estate development and management, tourism, financial and insurance services, newspaper and magazine publication, human resource development, and management consulting. He is a four-term past national president of the prestigious Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations, Inc. (CREBA), past president of the ASEAN Association for Planning and Housing (AAPH), and past executive director of the Consulting Engineers Council of the Philippines (CECOPHIL).
Raymond Rufino
Raymond Rufino
Raymond Rufino is currently the CEO of NEO, the largest Owner, Developer, and Manager of Green Net Zero office buildings in Southeast Asia. A longtime advocate for sustainability, he has led NEO to be the first in the world to receive EDGE Zero Carbon certification for a building portfolio. NEO is also the first office portfolio in Southeast Asia to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Seal. Its entire portfolio is certified 5 Stars under BERDE (Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence), the country's national voluntary green building rating tool. He currently holds board positions with Urban Land Institute, WWF Philippines, ARISE Philippines, YPO Philippines, and the Philippine Green Building Council.
Carlo Cordaro
President & CEO, Atelier A
Carlo Cordaro
An Italian with a PhD in Economics, Carlo came to Cebu in 1995 as a consultant for Cebu Fil Veneer. He fell in love with the country’s natural materials and quickly moved up from consultant to the owner of CFVC. Deeper into the venture, he discovered his inherent gift in design. The Tropea Collection is the first of many designs where he utilized the natural beauty and functions of bamboo. Carlo has designed numerous collections since getting his inspiration from various sources as his place of birth, a childhood acquaintance, an elegant force of nature, a charming town from his roots, a life’s celebration. With a clientele vastly in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the US, hotels and homes all over the globe are practically Carlo’s showroom. What’s next for Carlo remains an everlasting guess for his close relations and business contacts.
Jean Jacquelyn Nathania A. de Castro
Jean Jacquelyn Nathania A. de Castro
She is the CEO of ESCA Inc., a Filipino-owned full service Engineering Firm championing the use of technology in engineering design, project construction management and Building Information Modelling (BIM) services to local and foreign clients for almost 40 years. She is also the CEO of ESCA International Inc. (EII), a pioneer in engineering outsourcing services to international architectural and engineering firms.
Jean is the immediate past Chair of the Urban land Institute (ULI) Philippines and the first woman to lead the National Council in the Philippines. She is the only Filipino to have graduated from the Senior Executive Institute (SEI) Program of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) in the United States. She is a CIAC Accredited Arbitrator and a FIDIC Certified Consulting Practitioner by FIDIC Credentialing Limited, the certification body for global consulting professionals.
She is a certified BIM Manager by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore and a certified Program Manager of the Philippines Constructors Association (PCA). She is an experienced litigator with extensive construction arbitration and commercial litigation experience from her years with Villaraza Cruz Marcelo and Angangco Law Offices and MOSVELDTT Law Offices. She is also a trained arbitrator of the Philippine Dispute and Resolution Center (PDRCI).
IDr. Kathleen P. Obcemea
Principal Interior Designer and owner of KPO Beyond Designs Co.
IDr. Kathleen P. Obcemea
The Principal Interior Designer and President of KPO Beyond Designs Co. established
in Manila. Although art, ambition, and an early interest in architecture ignited the
interest of Kathe’s design career, it was her spirited nature and approachable,
intuitive aesthetic that ultimately catapulted her to distinction as one of Manila’s
reliable interior designers for residential, commercial, and hospitality. She is also a
favorite go-to interior designer of property owners living abroad, providing them
with turn-key contracts.
Kathe earned her degrees in both Business and Interior Design, and with almost a
decade of industrial engineering work gave her the leverage in fulfilling her goals in
the interior design and project management fields. With much to offer she was
elected as a Board of Trustee of the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID) for
two terms, focused on professional practice, designing and organizing CPD
programs. Appointed member of the Technical Career Progression and
Specialization Committee of the Board of Interior Design, for the ASEAN integration
movement under the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC).
Her passion for designs and attention to details has lead her to doing projects in
Singapore, Guam, and Thailand. She is committed to shaping the design industry
and advocating for a more romantic and humanistic design thinking, respecting
the past and diversity of cultures. Redesigning the coldness of industrialism with the
poetry, fantasy and romance of different ages.
Luis Enrique T. Mangosing
CEO, Metro Development Managers, Inc. (MDMI)
Luis Enrique T. Mangosing
Mr. Luis Enrique T. Mangosing has been involved in corporate real estate, property development and general management for over thirty years. His areas of specialization include real estate asset and investment management, real estate project packaging, property acquisition and disposal, project development and management, property and facilities management, as well as general management, business operations and administration. He has been involved in all major sectors of the real estate industry, including but not limited to horizontal and vertical residential, office-commercial, hospitality, and industrial sectors. Mr. Mangosing has had extensive experience in all aspects of the real estate development industry.
Philip Mareschal
Head of Property & Asset Management JLL Philippines
Philip Mareschal
Mr. Philip Mareschal leads the Property and Asset Management team of JLL Philippines.
With over 30 years’ experience in real estate, he has built businesses and lead operations in both start-up and established entities in various professional landscapes in France, United States, and the Philippines.
He bears exceptional skills in establishing structure, driving vision and achieving critical strategic goals.
He has extensive experience driving operational performance and efficiency, including the development of corporate policies and expansion activities that requires investments and acquisitions”.
Richard Raymundo
BSc(Bus Econ) MRICS
Managing Director | Colliers Philippines
Richard Raymundo
With over 25 years of research and consultancy experience, Richard has been involved in various projects in Asia, particularly the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. This has covered sectors from simple developments to large-scale mixed-use estates with office, retail, residential, hotel, industrial and institutional land segments. Richard has been involved in complex assignments that entail creative solutions, including brand conceptualization, destination development, land-use spatial analysis, and marketing strategies. After a stint in the regional office in Hong Kong, Richard is currently the managing director for Colliers Philippines.
Michelle Barretto
Founder & CEO, Vitamin B, Inc.
Michelle Barretto
Michelle is a brand consultant; Founder and CEO of Vitamin B, a multi-awarded brand consultancy that has a deep knowledge in building brands from conglomerates to regional start ups in property, healthcare, tourism, and financial services. As a brand consultant, her expertise is in insight-driven strategy, C-Suite brand advisory, brand architecture, stakeholder branded communications, system design, and problem solving. Prior to starting Vitamin B, she was the Country Manager for Addison Design Consultants, the firm responsible for global brands such as Jollibee, China Airlines, Citibank, and Shell. In 2003, she also set up BrandLab for BBDO. She has always believed that if driven by insight and strategy and translated through strategic design, branding can be a multiplier.
