Regional Director, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development
With passion towards poverty reduction through integrity-building and good governance, Jennifer Carisma Bretaña has been working at the grassroots for 20 years now as a local development planner and former Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator of the Province of South Cotabato. As a licensed urban and regional planner who emerged as Top 1 during the 2013 Licensure Examination for Environmental Planners in the Philippines, she believes that good governance is key to improving the quality of urban and rural spaces as Point of Contact of OGP Local–South Cotabato.
In 2021, she was appointed as Director of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development where she currently leads the Regional Office XII in serving with compassion the Filipino poor and low-income families with the highest level of integrity and accountability especially during the pandemic.
Taking advantage of her academic background having earned her Master of Science Degree in Regional Development Planning from the University of the Philippines-School of Urban and Regional Planning and from the University of Dortmund in Germany, she has been implementing initiatives in her region aimed at bridging the housing gaps and addressing human settlements challenges.