Our Team

Management Team

Arlene Christy D. Lusterio

Executive Director

Arlene Lusterio is a licensed architect and environmental planner. She is one of the founders of TAO-Pilipinas and has been its Executive Director since 2001. While running a technical assistance NGO, she has also done consultancy work as a specialist on People’s Planning and Social Housing for the Department of Interior and Local Government and for Asia Foundation. She serves as board member for Partnership of Philippine Support and Service Agencies (PHILSSA) and as co-convenor for Philippine-Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI). Arlene is also a principal at the planning and design consultancy firm PROS Architects and Planners Inc.

Geraldine R. Matabang

Core Operations Head for Internal Affairs

Geraldine Matabang is a licensed architect and environmental planner. She has Master of Arts in Urban & Regional Planning and Bachelor of Science in Architecture degrees from the University of the Philippines.She joined TAO-Pilipinas first as a member of its Board of Trustees in 2001 and worked full-time to head the Young Professionals Program from 2005 to 2010. She is currently its Core Operations Head for Internal Affairs and formerly the Education and Training Program Director where she oversaw its capability building programs for social housing projects, designed participatory shelter planning modules and facilitated trainings for government, civil society and community-based organizations. Ge has published manuals and monographs about community planning, disaster-resilient design and humanitarian shelter assistance.

Angelus Maria P. Sales

Core Operations Head for External Affairs

Angelus Maria Sales is a licensed architect whose field of interest lies in historic preservation. Angel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of the Philippines College of Architecture and a Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from the University of the Philippines Archaeological Studies Program (UP ASP). She initially joined TAO-Pilipinas in 2005 as a staff for the Research and Publications Program and worked on the regular publication of TAO Shelter magazine, project documentation, and a research project on heritage conservation. She has authored and published two manuals on house construction for social housing. She moved to lead the Young Professionals Program by 2013. She is currently the Core Operations Head for External Affairs of TAO-Pilipinas.

Staff

Dessica Marie P. Salvador

Project Team Leader for ACT Co-Design Project

Dessica Salvador joined TAO-Pilipinas as an apprentice in 2015 while still a student at the Technological Institute of the Philippines where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 2019. As a student-intern, Dessica assisted in CAD production and created community planning workshop tools and scaled models of TAO’s various shelter unit designs. As a full-time staff, she has done construction supervision for small community infrastructure projects in Masagana Angat HOA in Bulacan. Dessica has special interest in the arts, joining several art contests and was a student paper cartoonist in secondary school. Her research interest is in sustainable architecture. Her undergraduate thesis focused on the integration of urban farming-based livelihood in the development of a low-income community in Quezon City. In 2023, she successfully passed the licensure exam for architects. She is currently the team leader in the ACT Co-Design project which is being implemented in Lupang Arenda, Taytay, Rizal.