Lilian De Leon, a strong advocate of good governance in the country, has held various management positions in local and national government agencies. She remains committed to advising LGUs in transformational leadership on governance, sustainability, and institutionalization.
Known as The Woman of Many Firsts, Ms. De Leon served as the Executive Director of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines from 2001 to 2013, the longest-serving executive director in the history of LMP, who introduced transformation and institutionalization in local government associations. She contributed to developing and lobbying some notable national policies such as the Free Patent Act, Sustainable Upland Development, and Population Management. She also pioneered LMP’s digital text messaging service, WINTEXT, a send-to-many messaging system that has received recognition from then-Philippine President H. E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ms. De Leon also served as the first Chairperson of the Democratic Local Governance for Southeast Asia (DELGOSEA) from 2012 to 2013. She was the country's representative to the Paris, France Historical Merger of the World Local Government Associations called United Cities and Local Government and presented a paper on the Local Government’s Role in Poverty Alleviation and Social Inclusion to the United Nations.
As a mentor and coach with Galing Pook, Ms. De Leon emphasizes adaptive, innovative, and participatory governance in assisting LGU leaders and organizations. She also served as a consultant for national government units, local government units, and organizations such as Jollibee Foods Corporation, the World Health Organization, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Health, Department of Justice, and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Focus areas she has handled include coastal resource management, solid waste management, protecting children's rights, and governance and leadership.
To award champion provinces, cities, municipalities, organizations, and other sectors with effective governance systems, Ms. De Leon, as the President and Executive Producer of the Kahanga-hanging Pilipinas Television Program, had them featured for good leadership, effective service delivery, culture, and heritage, and community empowerment. Further, the program instilled a sense of nationalism and love for one’s locality.
She has also served as Health Governance Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) TB Platforms project. During her time, Ms. De Leon helped strengthen local health systems, empowered local health workers, established the TB agenda in localities for policy development and budget allocation, and ramped up efforts on implementing the Universal Health Care Act and the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling.
Currently, Ms. De Leon serves as the DILG’s Assistant Secretary for International Relations. She was nominated and elected as one of the United Nations Climate Change Paris Committee on Capacity Building (PCCB) members, representing the Asia Pacific. She takes on roles as permanent/alternate representative for vital Working Groups for the DILG Honorable Secretary.