A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
I am a lawyer, writer, policy consultant, and the founder and executive director of The Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development or CANVAS, a nonprofit organization I established in 2005. Through CANVAS, I work with artists, writers, educators, and communities to create children’s books and learning projects that bring together literacy, Philippine art and culture, environmental awareness, and children’s rights.
I like exploring questions of identity, particularly as it relates to being Filipino. I am deeply interested in understanding what it means to be Filipino, and how our heritage shapes our perspectives, experiences and future.
And, of course, I also write about Philippine art and the role it plays in our culture. I believe that art can be a powerful tool for exploring important social issues such as human rights and climate change, and I am interested in how contemporary artists are using their work to raise awareness and spark conversation on these issues.
CANVAS
Our books are distributed free to children across the Philippines, particularly in communities with limited access to them. By the end of 2026, more than 2.2 million copies of our books will have reached their hands.
My work with CANVAS has grown from publishing children’s books into a wider effort to make art and storytelling part of public life. I am now leading the development of theTumba-Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art in Batangas, an open-air museum and learning space for children and families. I am also the founder and co-curator of the If Trees Could Talk International Art Biennale.
In 2025, we were nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award — a global award often described as the international "Nobel Prize for children's literature" — given annually to a person or organization for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature.
To support CANVAS’ mission, I founded Marahuyo Corporation which operates a consortium of advocacy-based online galleries, and an online marketplace for art-inspired merchandise.
WRITING
Writing remains central to my work. I have written children’s books on subjects including data privacy, misinformation, family, and the ways words shape our lives. Safe Space: A Kid’s Guide to Data Privacy and YOUTHINK: Fight Fake News! received the National Children’s Book Award in 2022, while How To Raise Your Child received the Gintong Aklat Award in 2024.
I also blog and share my thoughts and short essays on technology, law, and public policy, as well on personal reflections on life, especially now as I am well into the second half of my life, and slowly starting to contemplate questions of legacy and continued relevance when the time comes to retire.
LEGAL AND POLICY CONSULTING
Alongside my work in the arts and nonprofit sector, I have spent more than two decades advising Philippine government agencies and international development organizations on information and communications technology, telecommunications, competition policy, digital governance, and regulation.
My work in this field has included engagements with USAID, Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, CIDA, the International Telecommunication Union, and UNESCAP. I have worked with both Houses of Congress, as well as executive agencies including the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission, and the Philippine Competition Commission to help push legal and policy reforms; assist in the crafting laws and rules on cutting edge information and communications technologies; and to enhance the competition environment in the Philippines.
I am particularly proud of my role in helping to pass the landmark Konektadong Pinoy Act (2025), and the Philippine Competition Act (2016). I was also tapped by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to lead and guide a multi-agency effort to draft the Competition Chapter of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
TEACHING
I previously taught information and communications technology law and policy at the University of the Philippines College of Law (2003-2011). While earning my degree in law, I also taught at the Philippine Science High School (1985-1991), a special high school for gifted students.
I hold degrees from the University of the Philippines (BS Business Economics, Bachelor of Laws), the University of San Diego(Master of Laws), and the University of California San Diego or UCSD (Masters in Comparative Public Policy).
For my work, I have been honored with outstanding alumni awards from the University of the Philippines (2016), and the Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy of UCSD (2008).
This site brings together my work across these fields: the organizations and projects I formed and help lead, the books and essays I write, and the policy work that has shaped much of my professional life.
PERSONAL LIFE
I play basketball and am into taekwondo (poomsae). I dabble in gelli printing. I have been married to Alyssa Peleo-Alampay for 35 years and counting, and we have three children Katria, Micah and Alee.