
MR. RENE MEILY
President, Philippine disaster Resilience Foundation
Butch is the President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a private sector disaster management organization that includes many of the major business groups in the country. PDRF currently operates the world’s only national private sector-led Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Butch is also the president of IdeaSpace Foundation, a technology accelerator for early stage start-up companies. He heads QBO Innovation Hub, a public-private partnership launched to mentor startups. He is concurrently president of Pacific Global One, a firm formed from PLDT’s Aviation Group.
Previously, Butch was First Vice President and Special Assistant to the chairman of PLDT and president of PLDT Smart Foundation. He has worked with several New York public relations firms and a financial start-up there.
A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, Butch has an M.A. in Journalism and Communications from the University of Florida (UF). He was a recipient of the College of Journalism’s Alumnus of Distinction award in 2000. He returned to UF in 2003 as the Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professor.