Our Roots

Atty. Leilene Marie Carantes-Gallardo

Leilene Marie Carantes-Gallardo belongs to the Ibaloi indigenous cultural  community of  Baguio-Benguet.  She presently works  as a public prosecutor with the Dept. Of Justice, Philippines and is a certified vinyasa yoga instructor. Previously, in her 15 years of government service  as Regional and Bureau Director of  the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) she  managed  the titling of  numerous ancestral domains in Benguet and the Visayan Region in the Philippines and  in the   formulation of indigenous peoples’  ancestral domain sustainable  development  protection plans (ADSDPP).  As  NCIP  Bureau  Director she focused on Policy analysis and formulation on indigenous peoples as basis  for issuance by the Commission of implementing guidelines  such as  on  Indigenous Political Structures and the Registration of Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations and  Promoting the Community Intellectual Property Rights  of indigenous peoples.  

Inspired by her previous engagements  as  NCIP representative working  with various NGOs   on   the  Philippine National REDD  plus Strategic Framework (PNRPS)  on carbon ownership and biodiversity concerns and  growing up in her younger years on an  ancestral farm, she pursued a Diplomate on Environment and Natural Resource Management  with the University of the Philippines Open University and  now aspires to pursue her dream of becoming a farmer.