Ed
In This Section
Ed picture

Ed is a graduating psychology student at De La Salle University, Manila whose work is grounded in advancing youth mental health through culturally responsive and community-based approaches. His engagement in mental health advocacy began with The Kalinawan PH, a national initiative that advanced mental health awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he developed a sustained commitment to addressing stigma, structural barriers and inequities in access to mental health support among young people.

He later served as a student representative at his university’s Student Success Center, contributing to student development initiatives that expanded access to skills-building and career pathways. His interest in evidence-informed mental health systems was further strengthened through his work as a research intern at the Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance, where he contributed to policy briefs on training non-specialists to deliver mental health support in rural Philippine communities and assisted in data collection and analysis for proposed amendments to the Youth for Nation Building Act (RA8044), contributing to a framework study on youth well-being across psychological, social and environmental domains. Previously, he worked with the DLSU Social Development Research Center on validating the Philippine Early Learning and Development Standards to enhance holistic child development nationwide.

He also founded HALIGI Org., a learner-led initiative supported by the European Union that provides free, personalised STEM tutoring to elementary students in low-income communities in Tondo, Manila. This work deepened his understanding of how learning, emotional safety and peer relationships are inseparable in shaping youth outcomes. His broader vision is to help cultivate environments where young people are not only protected from harm but actively equipped to care for one another. Grounded in local realities and informed by global youth mental health discourse, his work seeks to demonstrate how culturally rooted, peer-driven approaches can foster sustainable change in communities, schools, and broader social contexts.