THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
In accordance with the Executive Order No. 540, the FTSCCO works to advance the country’s trade and investment interests by providing credible information and nurturing relations among foreign and local investors and businesses by bringing down the physical and cultural borders of doing business across countries. FTSCCO facilitates in a wide support network of consulate offices, trade associations, special interest councils, and our government partners in the Philippines and various trading partners worldwide.”
Internal Audit Service (IAS)
Performs internal auditing of DTI systems and processes.
May Niña Celynne P. Layug
Assistant Secretary
and
Chief-of-Staff
Atty. Amanda Marie F. Nograles
Undersecretary
Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Services
Atty. Fhillip D. Sawali
Director
Communications and Information Service
Edgar C. Herrera
Director
Internal Audit Service
Atty. Marco C. Maat
Director
Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Services
Atty. M. Marcus N. Valdez II
Supervising Head
Office for the Special Mandate on Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products, their Devices, and Novel Tobacco Products
Office for the Special Mandate on Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products, their Devices, and Novel Tobacco Products (OSMV)
Oversees the development and implementation of standards and regulations related to Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products, their Devices, and Novel Tobacco Products.
Domingo “Dominic” R. Tolentino, Jr. took his Oath of Office before President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as Assistant Secretary (Asec) of the Department of Trade and Industry, Regional Operations Group, at the Malacañang Palace on 03 March 2020.
Asec Tolentino lives by PRRD’s motto “by working together, we build a nation where citizens are empowered.” and former DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, “more grassroot approach in programs and livelihood intervention to widen the reach of the marginalized sectors providing skills, jobs, business.”
Asec Dominic, as he is fondly called, is designated by virtue of Department Order 20-52, tasking him as the following major programs of this administration;
- National Coordinator, Livelihood Seeding Program – Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay (LSP-NSB)
- National Coordinator, Diskwento Caravan
- ROG In-Charge, Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) Program
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, he served as the Director of the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau of the DTI-Consumer Protection Group, in which he ensured regulation of importation as provided by trade agreements and conduct market surveillance and enforcement to ensure compliance with trade and industry law, among others.
Further, Asec Tolentino is a former Director of the Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau, the office that develops advocacies and policies to ensure a fair marketplace for both the consumers and businesses. He is responsible for heightening consumer awareness program and bringing basic necessities and prime commodities to the Barangay and likewise the Serbisyo sa Barangay. He handles policy and advocacy programs. Asec. Tolentino hails from Cavite City and comes from the Tolentino Clan.
He is a known to be a seasoned operations management executive with expertise in Marketing, Promotion, Local Government Administration, Planning, Urban Development, Project Management, Trade and Industry, Consumer Policy, Advocacy and Protection.
Before joining the DTI, he spearheaded the Resettlement Program to uplift the living conditions of the disadvantaged people of the community, developed, and implemented a comprehensive and integrated housing development and resettlement programs, the Chief of the Housing Development and Resettlement Department and former Cavite Majority Leader of the Cavite Provincial Legislator and National Chairman of Board Member League.
He is part of the economic team who is responsible for lowering the inflation by saturating the rice in the market. Former Head Executive Assistant of the Department of Labor and Employment and also a former Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) Trade Tourism.
He represented the Philippines during the ASEAN Regional Forum on the Promotion of Sustainable Consumption and one of DTI’s representatives to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Digital Marketing and Promotion held in Varas, Chile last 20-26 August 2019. Also in the ASEAN-USPTO Workshop on Intellectual Property Enforcement, Public Awareness and Consumer Behavior last 07-09 November 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Atty. Amanda Marie F. Nograles is the Undersecretary for the Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Services. Prior to DTI, she was also the Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs of the Department of Education.
Atty. Amanda graduated with second honors from Ateneo Law School. After taking the bar, she worked at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & delos Angeles and thereafter at Nograles Law Offices.
She graduated from Ateneo de Manila, magna cum laude with a degree in Management Economics. She is set to complete her Masters in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines by June 2024.
Atty. Marco Maat is the Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Services Director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and concurrently designated by the DTI Secretary as the Second Alternate Chairperson of the DTI – Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP) Board.
He also served as the Executive Director of the CIAP, an attached agency of the DTI and was designated as Secondary Alternate Representative of the DTI for the National Housing Authority (NHA) Board of Directors, and DTI Alternate Representative to the NEDA Board Committee on Infrastructure and its Technical Board (INFRACOM-TB).
Director Maat was also previously designated as the DTI’s Deputy Department Legislative Liaison Officer and the Vice-Chair for the Government of the Export Development Council – Networking Committee on Legislative Advocacy and Monitoring (NCLAM).
Tasked by previous DTI Secretaries to promote, advocate and formulate policies in relation to the legislative priorities of the Department, Atty. Maat significantly contributed, with his team, an innovative formulation of the DTI’s Legislative Agenda. He and his team also provided bill drafting services and assistance to several bureaus of DTI, as well as assisted DTI in key policy initiatives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was part of the legal and policy team that contributed to the issuances of guidelines relevant to DTI’s and IATF’s COVID-19 response in 2020 & 2021.For over a decade, he has been involved in legal work and has extensive experience in legal writing, policy formulation, legislative bill drafting, and legislative advocacy. Withal, as a lawyer, his comprehensive and in-depth professional understanding of both commercial and political law has lent him an incisive and acute grasp of the legislative process in the Philippines.
He is a dedicated public servant with the intention to further help the Government, especially on bringing back the energy to the economy and properly serve the Filipino people. He believes that his profession is not only for himself nor for his family but also for the society. For him, rule of law should prevail, and every right should be respected.
Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Services (OULS)
Provides legal support to the various DTI bureaus and agencies
Prepares trade and industry-related materials and publications, and serves as the repository of trade and industry data and information through the DTI website and Library, among others.
Atty. Fhillip D. Sawali is the Director of the Communications and Information Service (CIS). Director Sawali has taught constitutional law as a Professorial Lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Law. From 2016 to 2022, he served as the chief of staff of the Office of Senator Leila de Lima at the Senate of the Philippines. Also, in various durations from 2010 to 2016, he provided legal assistance as either counsel or consultant to several government institutions including the Office of the Speaker at the House of Representatives, the Office of the Regional Governor in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Batangas State University, and the Office of the President. During his private practice, he co-founded the law firm Belmonte Sison Sawali and Associates, as well as worked at the Camacho and Associates Law Office, and the United Coconut Planters Bank.
Director Sawali is married and has three daughters. He earned his Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines College of Law in 2002. He graduated cum laude in Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy in 1997. He also finished class valedictorian in both elementary and high school in his hometown of Mabini, Batangas where his parents served as long-time government employees. His mother was school principal and district supervisor for the Department of Education. His father was an agriculturist and local councilor.