Keynote and Plenary Speakers 

DR. CRISPIN C. MASLOG, a journalism practitioner and academician, started as a full-time journalist with the Manila Bureau of Agence France-Presse before he went to the University of Minnesota on a Fulbright-Smith Mundt scholarship. After getting his M.A. and Ph.D. there in 1967, he returned to the Philippines to take on the job as first permanent director of the School of Communication, Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines. He served as director for for 15 years. He was editor of the Silliman Journal from 1970 to 1980.

He later moved on to become professor, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños, from where he retired in 1998. While at UPLB, he co-founded and became president of LIFE foundation, an environmental NGO that worked to save Laguna Lake. After “retiring” from UPLB, he was invited to be Senior Vice President and Dean, Graduate School, Asian Institute of Journalism, in Manila. After retirement he has been visiting mass communication professor in the United States, Norway, and Singapore.

Among his many areas of expertise is science and agriculture journalism which he taught at UP Los Baños for many years. Among his 37 published books are Science and Science Writing, a Manual on Ethnic Reporting, both published by the Philippine Press Institute; Genes are Gems: Reporting Agribiotechnology (2006), Hyderabad, India: ICRISAT and ISAAA; Science Writing and Climate Change (2019).

Other books he published recently are: PACE Turning 50: A History of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators. (2023); AMIC @ 50: Turning Gold A History of Asian Media and Information and Communication Centre (AMIC, 2022); Never Again! (To Martial Law) A Sequel to Martial Law Jokes Atbp (self-published, 2019) and Jokes Only: A Book on Duterteisms (self-published, 2022).

MR. JUAN MIGUEL R. MONTINOLA is the President of Far Eastern University (FEU). He has served as Chief Finance Officer of the University from September 2010 to July 2023.

Prior to his work in FEU, Mr. Montinola was Chief Executive Officer and Country Manager of Lafarge Cementi SA, Italy, from 2006 to 2008. From 1996 to 2006 he served as President and CEO of Republic Cement Corporation and concurrently as Senior Vice President for Commercial Business from 2002 to 2006, and Senior Vice President for Procurement from 2001 to 2002, for Lafarge Cement Services, Inc.

Prior to 1996, Mr. Montinola held various positions in Republic Cement Corporation and served as a member of the Board of Directors in different organizations.

Mr. Montinola has a Master of Business Administration degree from International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, and an AB Economics degree from College of William & Mary, Virginia, USA.

DR. MOLEFI KETE ASANTE is Professor, Department of Africology at Temple University in Philadelphia.  He is an expert in Afrocentricity, Intercultural Communication, Westernity, Location Theory, Critique of Domination, African American Experiences, Ancient Africa.

Asante is the President of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies.  Asante is Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa. He was the Founding Editor, Journal of Black Studies, serving for 53 years.  Selected as the first director of UCLA’s Center for Afro-American Studies, he established the interdisciplinary MA program, and set up the UCLA Center’s African American Library.  

Asante, often called the most prolific African American scholar, has published over 100 books, among the most recent are The Perilous Center, or When Will the African Center Hold;  Radical Insurgencies; The History of Africa, 3rd Edition; An Afrocentric Pan Africanist Vision; The African American People: A Global History;  Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation; Revolutionary Pedagogy; African American History: A Journey of Liberation; African Pyramids of Knowledge; Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait;  Facing South to Africa, and, the memoir, As I Run Toward Africa. 

He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, at the age of 26, and was appointed a full professor at the age of 30 at the State University of New York at Buffalo. At Temple University he created the first Ph.D. Program in African American Studies in 1988. In 2021 he initiated and conceptualized Temple’s Center for Antiracism Research.

PROF. DR. PHIL. HERMIN INDAH WAHYUNI, S.IP., M.Si. is  Professor at the Communication Science Department, University of Gadjah Mada. She is Former Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) at Gadjah Mada University (2015 – April 2023).  She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Science and her Master’s degree in Political Science  at the University of Gadjah Mada.  She then continued her studies at Leipzig University and obtained her Doctorate in 2006.

Prof. Hermin’s research interest lies in communication from the perspective of cybernetics, systemic approach, communication policy, media and communication theory, ecological-environmental communication and public communication. Some of her publications are Keriuhan Komunikasi - The Cacophony of Communication (2020) and New Media Policy in Indonesia (Hope, Dynamic, and Achievement)(2013,  reprinted 2020). Her research related to Southeast Asia are the content analysis of media construction in Southeast Asia,( in relation to the 2015 ASEAN community construction in 2018) ; Ecological Communication in Southeast Asia Maritime Disaster in 2017-2023; Southeast Asia's Digital Policy System; Trust and Risk Communication (2023).

Prof Hermin serves as the Indonesia country representative for the Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC) since 2014 until present. She is also active in several editorial boards for various international indexed journals such as Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research (AJPOR), based in South Korea, as well as the Pacific Journalism Review (PJR) in New Zealand, and also for IKAT Journal (Indonesian Journal for South East Asia Social Studies -CESASS UGM). 

DR. FERNANDO PARAGAS is the Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UPCMC) and a Professor at its Department of Communication Research. Dr Paragas is the Convenor of the Program on Higher Education Research and Policy Reform at the UP Center for Integrative Development Studies and the President of the Philippine Association for Communication and Media Research, Inc. He completed his PhD degree in Mass Communication at Ohio University as a scholar of the Fulbright program of the United States of America. Dr Paragas earned his MA in Urban and Regional Planning, for which he received a Dean's Medallion, and BA in Communication Research, where he received the Best Undergraduate Thesis Award, at UP Diliman. Dr Paragas had taught at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2019, he received the Gawad Tsanselor sa Natatanging Guro sa UP Diliman and, in 2020, the Outstanding Senior Faculty Award of UPCMC.

He has a cumulative total of over 100 academic publications, competitive conference papers, commissioned studies, and invited presentations. He has received various academic grants from UP as well as professional awards on public relations and business communications.

MS. YEKTHI HESTHI MURTHI is Associate Project Officer for Communication and Information of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Jakarta. She is responsible for the Social Media 4 Peace Project and activities related to the safety of journalists and media development.

Ms. Murthi holds a Bachelor's  Degree in Historical Science from Airlangga University. Before joining UNESCO, she was program manager at the Indonesian Cyber Media Association (AMSI). She has experience working as a journalist with interests in human rights, health, gender, minorities, and children's rights.

From 2018 to 2020, she was executive director of the Alliance of Independent Journalists. She worked with the National Board of the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia (AJI) in different capacities, i.e., Head of the Advocacy Division, Head of Gender, Children, and Minorities Division, as well as trainer for journalism, fact-checking, data journalism, and safety, and gender issues.

She was contributor to the Safety Guidelines for Journalists produced by AJI and Internews (2018); writer and editor of Guidelines on Covering Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Adolescents Using Gender Diversity Sensitivity for Journalists published by Aliansi Satu Visi (2019); and editor of Guidelines on Covering Reproductive Health Rights of Adolescents Issues for Journalists produced by Pamflet Generasi (2022).

DR. RONNY ADHIKARYA had a 50-year career in international development assistance, serving as a Manager at the World Bank in Washington D.C., USA, and the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy as a Senior Official, and also for other international organizations worldwide.

He was also associated with Stanford Univ., the East-West Center, and other universities in many countries. He retired from the World Bank in 2003, and was reappointed as the FAO/United Nations Representative, with Ambassador-level credentials, in Pakistan.

A well-known “Story-Teller” globally, after serving as Country Director/Ambassador for FAO/United Nations, he is often invited as KeyNote Speaker at international conferences, and has given public lectures in at least 28 countries since 2005.

Originally from Indonesia, Dr. Adhikarya since 1972 has undertaken professional assignments & official missions in 52 countries, and travelled to a total of 103 countries. He has written 8 books published in Germany, Italy, England, USA, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and many other publications.

Dr. Adhikarya has served many advisory boards/committees of international development organizations in Singapore, Thailand, England, Switzerland, Indonesia, USA, etc. He is also member of the Advisory Council of GenZi (Generation-Z Indonesia).

He is also a Recipient of the 2022 ASIA COMMUNICATION AWARD from AMIC (Asian Media Information and Communication Centre) for his lifetime achievement in Transformative Leadership.

He obtained his Masters from Cornell Univ. (1972) and Ph.D. (1981) from Stanford Univ. He moved his residence in early 2021 from the “Silicon Valley” of California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (HICHAM), and the Executive Board of the East-West Center Association (EWCA).

Dr. Adhikarya has established the R-Adhikarya “Niche” Awards (RANA) at 3 World-Class educational institutions: the East-West Center (EWC), Stanford University and Cornell University. The RANA Program provides Scholarships annually to reward and recognize smart, innovative and competitive young students who wish to pursue their dreams to learn, explore and apply disruptive ideas, and “niche” innovative thinking, in their studies and future careers. See: https://www.kiroyan-partners.com/event/rana-awards

DR. SAMUEL MUDAVANHU is a proven leader who is always moving forward in a tumultuous economy. His accomplishments are results of tireless commitment, a spirit of perseverance, and a no-excuse attitude.

While working toward an ICT Diploma through the University of Zimbabwe, the opportunity to become an entrepreneur presented itself when a crisis arose from a lack of the required books. The books were costly and not easily obtained. Samuel didn’t hesitate to act, offering the University photocopying services for a more affordable, nominal fee, and they accepted. Two intensive weeks later, the order was fulfilled, thus making the University his biggest client. This was the birth of his commodity broking company.

 By 2005, he entered into triple PPPs with government to provide affordable housing while reducing the housing backlog in Harare. The company acquired land, developed it, and sold 500+ stands for people to build their own houses.

The necessity to focus on better educational opportunities for children spurred him in 2009. Passion made him and his wife invest all they had to open their first school. Today there are five centers of education, including a university.

Awards and Accolades are First Runner Up for ZNCC in 2010; Nominee, Businessman of the Year Award 2011; Ten Outstanding Persons in Zimbabwe 2011; Legacy Builders Award 2013; Award of Excellence Nominee 2014; Businessman of the Year in Zimbabwe 2015; Academic Leadership Awards.

Samuel is an avid farmer who enjoys nature conservation, photography and collecting cameras.

DR. HERLINA AGUSTIN has been a lecturer in the Journalism Department, Faculty of Communication Sciences,  Universitas Padjadjaran in Indonesia since 1994.  Her research interests are in marginal issues and environmental communication, especially in promoting conservation and the ecosystem. She also has a big concern for mental health issues and tries to promote the understanding of mental illness in society. Her concern about mental illness takes her to join the KPSI, Komunitas Peduli Skizofrenia Indonesia.

Besides becoming an academician, Herlina is also an activist. She was an advisory board member for PROFAUNA INDONESIA, a Non-Government Organization that protected forest and fauna from 2007 until 2019. She was trained as a snake rescuer by SIOUX Yayasan Ular Indonesia.

Herlina lives in Bandung, Indonesia, with her husband and 3 children.

DR. MOR SECK is  an Expert in Organisation, Public Policy, Administration and Management. He is the first Director of the Senegal Distance Learning Centre (Senegal DLC) and the first Secretary General of the Museum of Black Civilizations of Senegal (MCN). He is also the Permanent Secretary of the Commission for  Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies and Programmes (CESPPP) in the President’s Office of Senegal and Founder and Executive Director of the Think Tank « Capacity Equals Development » (CED Africa).

Dr. SECK is a holder of a PhD in Public Management, a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management, a Master’s degree in Project and Management Development, a Master’s degree in Management and Public Administration, a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Policy and a Master’s degree in Management Economics, from prestigious academic Institutions such as the University of Manchester and the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, the University of Antwerp in Belgium and the University of Dakar in Senegal.

He holds  several professional Certifications and qualifications in the area of Public Management, Public Administration, Strategic Marketing and Management of Training, Digital Technologies for Education and Training,  among others.  

Dr. SECK is the author of several academic publications in the area of Development and Reinforcement of Capacities, use of ICT in Education and Training, Public Sector Reform, among others.

Dr. SECK has been awarded, by three  Presidents of the Republic of Senegal for distinguished services rendered to the Nation. 

PROF. DANILO ARAÑA ARAO is associate professor, Department of Journalism, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) in Diliman, Quezon City. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for International Studies (CIS) at UP Diliman, special lecturer of the Department of Journalism, College of Communication, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Manila, and editor of Media Asia, a journal published by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

He writes a weekly column in Filipino (“Konteksto”) for Pinoy Weekly (a print and online publication), which is cross-posted in Bulatlat Multimedia where he also serves as associate editor.

Among his most recent books are Obhetibong Kritisismo: Mula Aquino hanggang Arroyo (UPD Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, 2019) and Kuro-kuro (Flipside Publishing, 2015).  All of his books are listed at  http://pages.upd.edu.ph/dannyarao.

He was associate dean of UP CMC; assistant vice-president for public affairs and director, System Information Office (SIO) of UP;  associate editor of the UP-based refereed journal Social Science Diliman;  visiting professor at Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea; editor-in-chief and head of research at IBON Foundation, a research think-tank. He taught Political Science at De La Salle University (DLSU)-Manila.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communication (major in Journalism), cum laude, from UP Diliman, Master of Arts (MA) in Philippine Studies, with High Distinction, at DLSU-Manila, and he is now writing a dissertation for the degree of Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) at Technische Universität (TU) Ilmenau (Germany).

DR. ENI MARYANI, M.Si. is a Professor at the Faculty of Communication Sciences (Fikom), Universitas Padjadjaran. She is also serving as the Head of the Department of Communication and Information. Her research interests lie in the field of communication, media, and culture, media industry, and gender studies. She is a member of IAMCR and ICA. One of her projects is 'the Media Policy and Sustainability of Local Media in the Media Industry Development in Indonesia’. 

DR. AUGUSTUS CEASAR LATOSA earned his doctorate degree in Communications and New Media from the National University of Singapore where he worked on his trailblazing dissertation titled “To be poor is to be killed” in the drug war in the Philippines: A culture-centered view of crisis communication from below.

He earned both his master's degree in Speech Communication and bachelor's degree in English Studies from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Currently, Dr. Latosa is the Coordinator of the Graduate School of the Department of Communication of Far Eastern University-Manila where he is also a lecturer of communication theory, communication research, crisis communication, and communication management.

He is a published book writer, a recipient of excellence awards in teaching both in local universities and at the National University of Singapore, an academic and a researcher interested in crisis communication, social change, rhetoric, and gender studies.

Recently, he was awarded the Journal of Gender Studies’ Sheila Cunnison Prize for his co-authored paper with Dr. Jona Lou Labor titled “Locked down queer love: intimate queer relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

RAMON GUILLERMO R. TUAZON is the Secretary General of AMIC. He is Communication and Information Specialist (consultant) at UNESCO Myanmar Office. He is the immediate past president and a trustee of the Manila-based Asian Institute of Journalism & Communication (AIJC). Mr. Tuazon has over 35 years of experience in strategic communication planning, management, and capacity building in diverse development areas. These programs were supported by  bilateral and multilateral agencies.  He is co-author of Media and Information Literacy: Curriculum for Teachers (UNESCO Paris, 2011) and Media and Information Literate Citizens: Think Critically, Click Wisely 2nd edition (UNESCO Paris, 2021).  He successfully lobbied for the inclusion of MIL as a core subject in the basic education in the Philippines. He was project coordinator of the first Model Journalism Curricula Project of UNESCO in Paris. He was the Project Director of the EU-funded Safeguarding Press Freedom in the Philippines (2018-March 2020) managed by the AIJC and the International Media Support (IMS) which produced the Philippine Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists. Mr. Tuazon completed his Master in Communication Management from the AIJC and Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Santo Tomas where he also took graduate work in advertising.