Dr. Amelou Benitez Reyes

The academic achievements of Dr. Reyes include: Associate in Arts from Trinity College, Washington DC; a double cum laude at the Philippine Women’s University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts major in psychology, and Bachelor of Science major in guidance and counseling. She completed her Master of Arts in Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University. She garnered another masteral degree in Political Sociology and a doctoral degree in Development Education at Stanford University, USA.

Her scholarship and dissertation study were funded by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education. As FAPE Director and assistant vice-president, she conceptualized the Graduate Centers Program, Faculty Scholarship Assistance Program, Educational Voucher Scheme (now being implemented as DepEd service contracting program), and teachers training improvement programs. She was founding executive director of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) and directed the conceptualization and establishment of PERAA (Private Education Retirement Annuity Association). For her pioneering work o­n education development, she was a TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) awardee for education in 1981.

In the field of women’s advancement, Dr. Reyes is president of the National Council of Women of the Philippines (2005-2007; NCWP was founded in 1946) and Vice-President of the ASEAN Federation of Women’s Organization (ACWO is a member of ASEAN Committee o­n Women). She is also the president of the Women’s Studies Association of the Philippines (WSAP) and board member, Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU).

Currently, she serves as Commissioner for Culture and Arts in the National Commission o­n the Role of Filipino Women. As former NCRFW Chair, she helped conceptualized the mainstreaming of women’s agenda for women’s empowerment which provided the basis for the 2003 Framework Plan for Women. Dr. Reyes played an active role in the APEC Ministerial Meetings o­n Women leading to the development of the Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC systems; she served as Project Overseer for conducting gender information sessions for various APEC fora.

Her other leadership positions: member, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP); vice president for Academics of the Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA); member, Board of Governors of the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE); and executive committee member, Commission o­n Quality Assurance, International Association of University Presidents (IAUP).

As head of the Philippine delegation to the UN General Assembly Special Session o­n Women 2000, Beijing Plus 5, Dr. Reyes successfully introduced in the UNCSW Outcome document the concept of HERSTORY whereby the invisibility of women in historical documentation could be remedied so that women’s contributions and achievements can be recorded and disseminated.

The widow of Professor Alejandro Albert Reyes of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), they have four children and 12 grandchildren: Alfredo and Myra Reyes, Martin and Elizabeth Dizon Reyes, Marlyn and Antonio Lilles, and Dr. Cristiana Santiago and Jose Alejandro Reyes.