Who We Are

Carisse Escueta, Executive Director

A dreamer and a former preschool teacher, Carisse believes this nation can be changed through music.

Kathrina Sta. Maria, Operations and Finance Director

Trina is passionate about design, travel and cuisine. She has served many years in the training industry, working alongside the country’s experts on leadership and excellence. She has an economics degree from De La Salle University.

Vin Dancel, Project Director

Vin is a musician and a lawyer who loves developmental work. He is crazy about his wife and kids.

Heidi Franco, Corporate Secretary

Heidi is a real-life renaissance woman – a photographer, event whiz and go-to girl for all things extraordinary. She officially joined Republikha in 2011 and has made us cooler just by being around. Boo-ya!

Lizette Claudio, Press Relations and Marketing Director

Liz has extensive experience in media and the music industry, having worked on various productions, promotional campaigns, and publications for MTV and Summit Media. She loves kids, cartoons, and empty spaces that can be doodled on.

Aurora Morales, Art Director

Rory is a multi-media hybrid who takes care of Republikha’s visual identity in print and online. She writes and illustrates stories for kids and teens. She loves to go a-wandering around Philippines and SouthEast Asia with her knapsack on her back.

Jorel Corpus, Artist Liasion

Jorel is a musician who loves the thought of great music influencing the lives of young kids and how that music will teach them basic life lessons. He is excited that the kids who experience Republikha’s projects will end up being ultra dynamic and bursting with personality. In 2007, he was the only Filipino musician who was accepted into Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Coco Castro-Cruz, Fundraising Assistant and Gawad Kalinga Liasion

Coco is a Filipina nation builder who is passionate about music, design and teaching children. She’s also wife to mission worker Loleng, and mother to 2 year old Sining. Coco has a degree in Arts Management and Communications from the Ateneo.

Jed Escueta, Visual Director

Jed is a visual artist who has exhibited in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as the United States. His latest work, an 8-foot dinosaur covered with tiny photographs, has astounded young and old alike! Jed has a Fine Arts degree from the University of the Philippines.

Anthony N. Pangilinan, Director

Anthony is the President and Chief Disturber of Businessworks, Inc. He is a well-known and highly respected motivational speaker, an Ulirang Ama and Huwarang Ama awardee, and is husband to Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan with whom he has 4 children.

Tina S. Zamora, Director

Tina is the Directress of progressive school Nest School for Whole Child Development in Quezon City. She has a Master’s degree in Family and Child Life Development from UP Diliman and loves photography.

Gang T. Badoy, Director

Gang is RockEd’s superwoman and all around anti-apathy champion who has brought multitudes together to declare “No More Excuses, Philippines!”

Contributors

Pauline Lacanilao

Pauline is a contributing writer for Saved Magazine, Kritika Kultura Literary Journal, and an ongoing HIV/AIDS study. Join less than 10 people as they follow her at twitter.com/wolfbrawl!

Lorraine Delfin-Carpio

Lorraine is a Filipina singer-songwriter currently based in Northern California where she lives with her husband Jay, 2-year old son Jonas and an assortment of dogs that keep their lives full and noisy.

Education and Curriculum Consultant

Mrs. Estrellita “Yangky” Agustin, PhD.

Teacher Yangky is a passionate advocate of music and education and is Republikha’s guiding force. She structured and created our module for testing as well as our observation methods for all the materials found in Jooma Jam Vol. 1. Currently you can find her amidst happy preschoolers in the University of the Philippines Child Development Center (UP-CDC) in UP Diliman, Quezon City.