New member companies were formally introduced during the recently held Year End Event Meeting of COFIC. They are:

• ALPEN Development Associates
• ARCH HAUS ASIA CONSULTANTS Incorporated
• Health, Education and Welfare Specialists, Incorporated
• Meganomics International Specialists, Incorporated

 I. ALPEN Development Associates, Incorporated, or ALPEN, was established in 1997 to assist organizations, both government and private, in improving or upgrading their business processes through the implementation of information technology solutions and applications such as document management systems.

ALPEN is presently headed by its Managing Director, Senen Dizon. He is a graduate of Agricultural Engineering in UP Los Banos and has taken up graduate studies in Business Administration. Mr. Dizon started his career with the Mandala Agricultural development Corporation or MADECOR in 1976, then moved to the National Irrigation Administration as a Project Technologist. He worked for private
company for 2 years after his project engagement and then moved to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Adminstration where he worked from 1982 as senior hydrologist rising to become assistant project manager of high profile projects. He was appointed as the Head Executive Assistant at the office of the Administrator and opted to move back to the private sector in 1997. He worked for BiWater and All Asia Anglian, both of which are private water companies until 2001. From thereon, Senen occupied senior management positions in various consulting firms.

II. ARCH HAUS ASIA CONSULTANTS Incorporated was established this year to provide high quality architectural and interior design services to clients in the Asia Pacific and Middle East Region. Its scope of services includes design concept, theming, project management for both commercial and residential projects. It is currently working on projects in Indonesia and Dubai. It has state-of-the art computers and
softwares that it uses to support design services for developers and other architectural firms.

ARCH HAUS is represented by its Senior Director, Architect Ernesto Antonino D. Nasol who is a graduate of the University of Sto. Tomas. He is also an interior designer, planning consultant, project consultant and a professor. At Arch Haus, he is in charge of conceptual and design development plans for hotel, commercial complexes and educational facilities. He took up further studies in architecture under Mark Duckert, a German professor and planning expert. He served as Board Examiner at the Professional Regulatory Commission, Specialty Board for Interior Design. He is a Fellow of Philippine Institute of Architects and served as its National President in 1990 and represented PIA at in the United Architects of the Philippines.

III. Health, Education and Welfare Specialists, Incorporated, or HEWSPECS was established in 1989 and is engaged in consulting work in the social sector. It has been active in consulting projects funded by UNICEF, USAID, AUSAID and others. HEWSPECS is presently headed by Elyn Noval-Gora as its Managing Director who holds a Phd in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines. She
has a Master’s degree in Public Health and a Bachelor of Science graduate in Public Health/Hygiene both from the University of the Philippines. She participated in more than 12 international and regional conferences in her field of expertise and 5 of which were held in countries outside the Philippines. She was the Executive Director of InterCare from 1986 to 1989, Project Director of the Population Center
Foundation from 1983 to 1985 and was with the Social Development Staff of the National Economic and Development Authority from 1974 to 1983 where she developed her expertise and passion in this field.

IV. Meganomics International Specialists, Incorporated or Meganomics for short is engaged in resources policy studies and development planning in the agriculture sector. Its strength also lies in agro-based industrial clustering, supply and value added chain and logistics management, rural and micro financial systems, agriaqua-business and agro-industrial projects geared towards food security,
sustainable rural development and poverty reduction. Meganomics is also a member of the Institute of Management Consultants of the Philippines, Incorporated (IMPHIL), a member organization of COFILCO.

Meganomics is headed by its President, Pablito M. Villegas who holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics at the University of Georgia, USA. He is a Bachelor of Science graduate of Agriculture from the University of the Philippines and holds a Diploma in Military Science and Tactics from the University of the
Philippines. He served as Senior Lecturer and Professorial Lecturer in Agribusiness Management, at UP Los Baños and Diliman Graduate School. He was a Vice President of the Land Bank of the Philippines and President of Masaganang Sakahan, Inc., an agribusiness subsidiary corporation of LandBank. He received various professional awards; UPLB Distinguished Alumnus Award; UP Outstanding
Professional Award in Agriculture; UP Vanguard Achievement and National Commander’s Awards; LandBank Achievement Award, Most Outstanding Professional Award of Malvar, Batangas.
Mr. Villegas has over 37 years of consulting experience in more than 20 developing countries such as People’s Republic of China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kingdom of Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, Cook Islands, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Mr. Villegas is now a practicing smallholder coconut-based farmer and Owner- Operator of the Villegas Organic and Hobby Farms and the Sustainable Agriculture and Entrepreneurship (SAGE) Learning Center in Malvar, Batangas, Philippines.