The Management

Emilio Benito Aquino is the first CPA-Lawyer appointed as Chairperson and CEO of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He will serve for a term of seven years. He assumed office last June 7, 2018. He was earlier appointed as SEC Commissioner on December 2, 2016.

After a successful decade-long practice as a CPA Lawyer, he returned to the SEC where he earlier on rose through the ranks to become the youngest Director of its former Prosecution and Enforcement (PED) and Non Traditional Securities and Instruments (NTD) Departments. He also headed the SEC Davao and Zamboanga Extension Offices where he launched capital market promotion activities as well as relentless enforcement actions against investment fraud in the countryside.

Concurrently, he is the Chairperson of the government-owned Credit Information Corporation, as well as Chair of the Microfinance NGO Regulatory Council. He is a sitting member of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. He also chairs the ASEAN Capital Market Forum Corporate Governance Working Group.

He is the Supervising Commissioner for Enforcement and the Office of the General Counsel. As such, he has carried out a proactive and effective enforcement drive as Champion of Investor Protection. He led the recent sweep against investment scams, and illegal and abusive lenders and is now the SEC’s point man on Fintech, Blockchain and Digital Assets.

Upon his assumption as SEC Chairman, he shepherded the passage of the Revised Corporation Code, a landmark legislation that was signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte last February 21, 2019.

Under his leadership, SEC was awarded in Geneva, Switzerland as one of the top recipients of the United Nations ISAR Honours 2019 for best practice in the area of sustainability and SDG reporting of companies. The Commission was also conferred the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Award for innovative measures undertaken in the delivery of public service. Further, SEC maintained its distinction as among the best performing government agencies per the Makati Business Club survey. SEC was likewise recognized by the Government Quality Management Committee for its ISO Certification 9001 2015 covering its company registration and other processes.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce major in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude and Valedictorian at the Universidad de Zamboanga in 1984. He hurdled the CPA Licensure Exams with a rating of 89.14%. He finished his law studies at San Beda College where he was a Dean’s Lister and Silver Medalist. He placed 16th in the 1992 Bar Exams.

Under a government scholarship, he earned a Master’s degree in Public Management at the Development Academy of the Philippines, graduating at the top of his class. He was conferred a Certificate of Study by the University of Sydney for a course on Effective Governance. He likewise attended and completed the Fintech Advanced Program at the People’s Bank of China School of Finance, Tshinghua University. He had also undergone the AIM Management Development Program for SEC.

He is a Major Donor of The Rotary Foundation. He was the visionary President of the Rotary Club of Zamboanga City West for RY 2009 to 2010 capping the Most Outstanding President plum plus 14 major District Awards and 6 Rotary International Citations and Distinctions. He is a Past President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Zambasulta Chapter which was recognized under his able leadership as the country’s Best IBP Chapter. He was elected President of the UZ Alumni Association and was thrice awarded as the Most Outstanding Alumnus of Universidad de Zamboanga in the fields of Law, Business and Accountancy. He was also recognized as an Outstanding Silver Jubilarian of the San Beda College of Law. He also held top positions in the local and regional levels of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which conferred him the Special Achievement Award in Government Service. Presently, he is a member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines National Executive Board and Chair of its Legal Committee. He serves as the government service representative in the ASEAN Law Association.

Ephyro Luis B. Amatong was appointed commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by President Benigno S. Aquino III on April 23, 2014 and took his oath of office on May 13, 2014.Before joining the SEC, Mr. Amatong was an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF) where he had an active role in a number of privatization projects, including the privatization of 74 hectares of the Food Terminal, Inc. (P24 billion). He was involved in a number of successfully awarded Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects such as the construction of 9,300 classrooms under the PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phase I (US$397 million), the NAIA Expressway Project (US$345 million), the Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center (US$126 million), and, most recently, the Automated Fare Collection System of the Department of Transportation and Communication (US$38 million).

Mr. Amatong was the DOF representative to the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council and was also part of the team that developed and implemented President Aquino`s Reform Program for the Bureau of Customs.

He also served in various capacities in the government, namely as Vice President of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (2012-2013), Corporate Staff Officer of the National Power Corporation (2010-2012), Acting Chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration (2011), Corporate Legal Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary of PNOC Exploration Corporation (2008-2010), Adviser to then Amb. Hilario G. Davide, Jr. at the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations (2007-2008), and Senior Law Clerk to then Justice Conchita Carpio Morales of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (2003-2005).

Before joining the government, Mr. Amatong was an associate with the Villaraza & Angangco Law Offices (2002-2003), where he dealt with high-profile litigation cases.

Mr. Amatong was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2002 and the New York Bar in 2007. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M., 2006) degree, with an International Finance concentration, from Harvard Law School, where he was an Ayala scholar and a Eugenio Lopez scholar. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B., 2001) degree from the U.P. College of Law, where he was conferred the Dean`s medal for academic excellence, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics (B.S.B.E., 1997) degree, cum laude, from the U.P. School of Economics. He was a member of the Order of the Purple Feather, the Honors Society of the U.P. College of Law, and is a life member of the Honor Societies of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Gamma Mu.

Javey Paul Durban Francisco is a career public servant who has been with the SEC for the last 17 years. He rose from the ranks starting out as a Securities Counsel II in 2001, promoted to Securities Counsel III in 2003, then Officer-in-charge in 2005. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on April 18, 2018, he was the SEC’s Director for its Davao Extension Office, a position he has held since 2007. Said Office has jurisdiction over SEC operations in Regions XI, XII and some parts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

His professional career as a lawyer began with a stint at the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala and Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALaw where he was an associate from 1996-2000. While at ACCRA, he handled various corporate, labor, litigation as well as public interest cases. He joined the government service in 2001 with a short stay at the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao. In the same year, he transferred to the SEC. At the SEC, he was sent to attend two international training-conferences, the Tokyo Seminar on Securities Regulation, Tokyo, Japan sponsored by the FSA-Japan (2006) and 9th International Conference on Financial Crimes and Terrorism Financing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2017).

Mr. Francisco is a product of the Ateneo de Davao University where he studied from elementary up to law school. He earned his Bachelor of Arts major in Philosophy degree in 1991 and his law degree in 1995. He was admitted to the Bar in 1996. In 2005, he earned his Master in Management degree from the University of the Philippines in Mindanao. After completing the Executive Leadership Program of the Career Executive Service Board, he was granted Career Executive Service Eligibility in 2010.

His professional and civic affiliations include the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Davao City Chapter and the National Union of Career Executive Service Officers or NUCESO. He is the treasurer of the Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies in Region XI (ARENA XI). He was a former member of the board of trustees of the Ateneo de Davao University Alumni Association, a life member of the Mindanao Amateur Radio Association or MINDARA and is also a Past Master of Datu Bago Masonic Lodge No. 197 of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.

Kelvin Lester K. Lee, a lawyer, was appointed Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) Commissioner by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 25 January 2019. Prior to joining the Commission, Atty. Lee was an Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), Office of the President (OP), where he handled special concerns of the Executive Secretary, Government Owned and Controlled Corporations(GOCCs) and various agencies/instrumentalities under OP.In late 2018, in addition to his functions as Assistant Secretary, he was also designated as the Head of the Strategic Action and Response Office (STAR). As Head of STAR, Atty. Lee was responsible for its constituent offices, namely, the Presidential Complaint Center(PCC) and the 8888 Citizen’s Complaint Center.

While in Malacañang, Atty. Lee was also Chairman of the MTRCB Appeals Committee, Acting Chairman (on behalf of the Executive Secretary) of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), and Board Member (Palace Observer) in the Subic Bay Management Authority (SBMA) Board of Directors. Atty. Lee was also designated as the OP Representative to the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) Multi-Sectoral Governance Council, the OP Representative to the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Cabinet Cluster and was also a Member of the OP Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). He also alternated with other OP Senior Officials as OP Representative to the the Cabinet Assistance System (CAS) and other Cabinet Clusters. He was also previously the OP Representative to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Board.

Before entering government service, Atty. Lee held positions as a Partner in various Davao and Manila based law firms. He began his legal career as an Associate Lawyer of the Siguion Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako (SRMO) Law Office. He was also an Opinion and Legal Columnist of the Sunstar Davao newspaper.

Atty. Lee is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law, where he was an Executive Editor of the Ateneo Law Journal and a member of the St. Thomas More Debate Society. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Dean’s Award for Best Thesis (Silver Medal). Atty. Lee has contributed articles to the Ateneo Law Journal, Asian Institute of Management Leadership Journal and other business/law publications.