Atty. Irene is the inaugural Executive Director V of the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution (OADR), an attached agency of the Department of Justice. She has more than ten (10) years of extensive law practice and is a professor of Law at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Civil Law, Arellano University School of Law (AUSL), New Era University College Law (NEU-COL), Tarlac State University School of Law (TSU-SOL), and Bicol University College of Law (BUCL). She is also a lecturer in Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) covering topics in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Atty. Irene is a Career Executive Service Officer I (CESO I). Her dynamic government record and desire to innovate is evident in the various key positions she held in all three branches of the government, which include her appointment as Acting Director IV of the Internal Audit Service of the Department of Agriculture by then President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III in 2013, her designation as Court Attorney V at the Judicial and Bar Council, and as Director II at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal prior to her appointment to her present position by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
She completed the Negotiation and Leadership Course of the Harvard Law School – Program on Negotiation. She likewise had her Comprehensive Course on International Commercial Arbitration under the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – New York Branch and the Columbia Law School, and Strategic Conflict Management for Professionals (Modules I and II) at the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC). She is a trained Arbitrator and trained File Counsel of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. (PDRCI).
Atty. Irene represents the Philippines in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation/Dispute Settlement) and Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform). She is also the Principal Representative of the Justice Department to the Lupong Tagapamaya Incentives Awards (LTIA) – National Board of Judges.
Atty. Irene obtained her law degree from the Arellano University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Management from the University of Santo Tomas. Among her advocacies are to mainstream ADR in the Philippine justice system, empower government agencies with effective ADR mechanisms, organize quality skills training programs for ADR practitioners, and standardize the ADR profession in the Philippines.
