Leading fintech exec among the country’s Blockchain Champions

Imelda “Ida” Tiongson, President of Opal Portfolio Investments (SPV-AMC) Inc as well as Independent Director and Chairperson Pru Life UK Philippines, received the Blockchain Champion award in the recent Philippine Block Awards, one of the highlights of the first Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW).

“In her personal capacity, Ms. Tiongson has made noteworthy contributions to the Blockchain industry," said Donald Lim, the lead convenor of PBW. "She mentioned in her acceptance speech that blockchain is in fact governance by design, as it has properties like transparency, accountability, and Integrity among others. It has already many used cases (sic) and as such major financial institutions both local and overseas have already welcomed this technology.”

Tiongson is a Trustee of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), FinTech Philippines and FinTech Alliance Philippines. She is also a committee member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Open Finance Oversight Committee Transition Group. She is likewise a Independent Director of Alipay Ph, Seedin Technologies Inc. and Xurpas, Inc.

A staunch fintech and governance advocate, Tiongson started her blockchain journey in 2015 when she participated in an exclusive and intensive Masterclass in Blockchain in Singapore. To familiarize herself with the technology and how it is used, she volunteered to assist in the drafting of a white paper for a Malaysian company’s Initial Coin Offering. It was successfully completed and funded in 2017.

Through ICD, Tiongson has worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Technical Working Group in the initial drafting of the Digital Asset Offering (previously called Initial Coin Offering) and the imposition of eKYC, a process wherein the customer's identity and address are verified electronically, on digital or crypto wallets.

With her experience and expertise, Tiongson is a sought-after speaker both locally and overseas. She also spoke at the recent PBW, which gathered blockchain thought leaders from across the globe.

Apart from Tiongson, the Philippine Blockchain Champion award was also given to Atty. Mark S. Gorriceta, Managing Partner and head of the Technology Media and Telecommunications Group of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra; Ann J. Cuisia, CEO of Traxion Tech; Atty. Kelvin Lester K. Lee, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Henry Rhoel R. Aguda, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Ops Officer of UnionBank of the Philippines; Luis Buenaventura II, Country Manager of Yield Guild Games; Gail Concepcion Cruz-Macapagal, Country Director of DynaQuest Technology Services, Inc.; Nichel O. Gaba, CEO of Philippine Digital Asset Exchange; Gabby Dizon, co-founder of Yield Guild Games; and Miguel Cuneta, founder of Bitmark,ph and co-founder and chief community officer of Satoshi Citadel Industries.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Philippine Blockchain Week 2022.