The Philippines Team

Joseph Capuno
Work package lead

Dr. Joseph J. Capuno is Professor of Economics and Director for Research at the University of the Philippines School of Economics. He led the UPecon-HEFPA Study Team, a collaborative project involving 12 research teams in Europe and in Asia. The UPecon-HEFPA Project featured a randomized control trial of health insurance interventions, analyses on household exposure to and coping with shocks and on local government provision of health insurance coverage to the indigent population. Besides research in health economics and health policy, he has also done work on decentralization and governance.

Aleli Kraft
Researcher

Dr. Aleli D. Kraft is Professor of Economics and currently the Health Economics Program Coordinator at the University of the Philippines School of Economics. Her professional experience include positions at the National Economic and Development Authority, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and consulting work for health and international trade projects funded by the World Bank, USAID, and the ADB. She was the Principal Investigator for the Philippine Tuberculosis Initiatives for the Private Sector Project (PhilTIPS) which collected and analyzed primary data on private physician knowledge, attitude and practice of Tuberculosis Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course (TB-DOTS).

Carlos Tan
Researcher

Mr. Carlos Antonio R. Tan, Jr. is currently a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Advisor and OIC-Deputy Chief of Party in the Health Policy Development Program Phase 2 (HPDP2), a USAID-funded project implemented by UPecon Foundation, Inc. He is also Group Manager for the Support to Implementation Research and Monitoring and Evaluation (SIRME) of UPecon Foundation, Inc., under HPDP2. The SIRME group assists the Department of Health (DOH) in strengthening policy and national monitoring program for family planning and maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition (FP/MNCHN) and tuberculosis (TB).

Ermi  Amor T. Figueroa Yap

Ms. Figueroa Yap has more than 30 years experience in social sciences research and policy development, particularly in health, income and poverty, and gender issues. She has managed, supervised, and participated in a number of projects that combine research with implementation, monitoring and evaluation. These projects include UNDP-funded (together with the ADB and NEDA) poverty studies, EU-funded, and Swiss National Science Foundation-funded health policy research, health financing studies in collaboration with the GTZ and Erasmus University, USAID-funded health policy projects and capacity building projects, WB-funded rate rebasing assessment (water utilities), ADB-funded consumer impact study of the new law on electricity and power energy generation and use. These projects provided extensive experience in working with various foreign funding institutions, in implementing different approaches to project management, and in preparing progress and financial reports. Likewise, these projects provided opportunities for assessing effectiveness and efficiency in achieving outputs and outcomes relevant to the recipient institutions and individuals. Her teaching and training experience afforded proficiency in assessing and building skills and imparting knowledge, also realized in the publication of research outputs. She has a Master’s degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Sociology. She is fluent and articulate in writing and speaking English, Pilipino, and Ilocano.