Secretariat

WEP presently serves as the AsianSLL Secretariat, under the directions of the Secretary General.

WEP is one of the programs of the University of the Philippines Law Center.  It envisions an empowered, enlightened, resilient and dynamic workers and employees and their labour organizations, where their rights, welfare, benefits and full potentials are realized in a just and humane society.

Towards this vision, its mission is to work for the workers and employees’ rights and welfare, and to collaborate with workers and employees, labor organizations, non-governmental organizations, government entities, academics, researchers, and law practitioners in developing an empowered, enlightened, resilient and dynamic workforce.

To this end, it aims to ultimately evolve into a national labor center dedicated to excellence in research and publication, teaching, consultancy, training and capacity-building leading to accreditation and the grant of non-degree programs in the field of labor law amidst emerging trends.

To fulfil its mission, WEP will have a two-fold goal: (1) to promote, protect, and help fulfill the rights, welfare, benefits, and full potentials of workers and employees; and  (2) to enhance the knowledge, skills, ability to use technology, perception, experience and attitudes of workers and employees, labour organizations toward an empowered, enlightened, resilient and dynamic workers and employees. (As of 15 December 2023)

Please contact the Secretariat at asiansll@yahoo.com, Cc: law.wep.upd@up.edu.ph

WEP Members and Staff

As of 3 December 2025

• Attorney Arnold F. de Vera, Program Director, Founding Faculty Member

Attorney de Vera has been the WEP Program Director since 15 August 2023.  He teaches labour law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Management, University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law, and Angeles University Foundation.  He is also a Partner at Gabriel and Mendoza Law Office.  Attorney de Vera obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Management from the Ateneo de Manila University, his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from UP, and his Master of Laws (LLM) from New York University.

• Professor Patricia R.P. Salvador Daway, Founding Program Director, Founding Faculty Member

* Prof Daway is a Professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) where she has taught courses on Labour Law, the Law on Credit Transactions, and Supervised Legal Research.

* She served as WEP Program Director upon its establishment in July 2021.  

* Earlier, she served as the Associate Dean of the UP College of Law beginning  October 2005 and the College Secretary beginning January 1999. 

* She was appointed as the Director of the Institute for the Administration of Justice (IAJ) of the UP Law Center in March 2013. 

* Before joining the University in May 1994, she served in the National Labor Relations Commission, having been appointed as a Labor Arbiter by the Philippine President in 1986. 

* She was elected as one of the original members of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of Labour Law (AsianSLL) in 2008. Prof Daway holds the  distinction of being the first woman to be elected AsianSLL President (2010-12) where she also served as its Interim President in 2022.  

* She has authored books and a number of articles focused on labour, including the Compendium on OFW Rights & Obligations Under International Law,  the Primer on Kasambahay Rights and Obligations under the Batas Kasambahay, Migrant Workers' Rights and Status under International Law: the Asian Experience, and The Legal Regime Governing the Export of Filipino Workers.

* Prof Daway, likewise, served as one of the Bar Examiners in Labour Law during the Bar examinations administered by the Supreme Court in February 2022 for graduates of law in the years 2020 and 2021.  

* Prof Daway earned both her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of the Philippines, where she has been serving since May 1994.

• Associate Professor E. (Leo) D. Battad, Founding Faculty Member

Prof Battad is an Associate Professor at the UP College of Law.  She is also Program Director of the Gender Law and Policy Program of the UP College of Law, and a Member of the Philippine Judicial Academy Faculty of Human Rights.  She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service, and Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and her Master of Laws (LLM) from Yale University, School of Law.  She teaches courses in Labor Law and Human Rights Theory and Practice in the Juris Doctor Program and International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in the Master of Laws Program.  She is also a faculty member of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA).  She served as Labor Law Bar Examiner during the 2020/21 Bar Exam.  A human rights advocate, she is a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), a national human rights legal organization.

• Attorney Marwil N. Llasos, Founding Faculty Member

Attorney Llasos is a WEP Faculty Member and Law Reform Specialist IV at the UP College of Law, where he teaches Special Proceedings, Security and International Human Rights Law, and Supervised Legal Research.  He is also Supervising Lawyer and Deputy Director of the U.P. Office of Legal Aid.  He served as Chief of Staff to the Dean (2024-2025), and was a member of the Labor Code Revision Committee and the Magna Carta for Seafarers Project of the UP Law Center.  Atty Llasos obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, cum laude, from Bicol University in Legazpi City; Bachelor of Laws from UP; Master in Public Safety Administration from the National Police College, Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC); and completed his academic requirements for Master in Crisis and Disaster Risk Management also Laws from PPSC and Master of Laws from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

• Attorney Emir-Deogene V. Mendoza, Head Legal Officer

He conducts labor law-related and evidence-based legal research for proposed legislation as well as lectures on labour law.  He is also responsible for running the AsianSLL Secretariat.  Atty. Mendoza is also a content creator for the YouTube channel Emir’s BTIN (Balik Tanaw / In Hindsight).  He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (Public Administration) degree from UP Diliman in 2015, and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the UP College of Law in 2019.

• Attorney Jasper Frederick C. Briones, Junior Legal Associate

Attorney Briones conducts labor law-related and evidence-based legal research for proposed legislation.  He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from UP Diliman in 2016, and his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the UP College of Law in 2021.

• Attorney Nathaniel N. Diaz, Senior Legal Associate

Attorney Diaz serves as the focal point for the UP Law Center Proposed Revised Labor Code. He also supports human rights and policy advocacy initiatives for the non-profit sector. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Human Ecology from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2014, and finished his Juris Doctor's degree from the Arellano University School of Law in 2022.  He became a member of the Philippine Bar in 2023.

Staff

Office of the Associate Dean

• Ms. Alma C. Mendoza

• Mr. Alfredo I. Cuello, Jr.

• Mr. Amado Espanta

Research Assistants

• Ms. Bianca Mae C. Cipriano

• Ms. Gaia D. de Mesa

• Ms. Flory Anne D. Patricio

• Ms. Kyla Marie C. Pauig

• Ms. Erika Rhaña M. Santos

• Ms. Queenie Anne C. Umadhay