Undersecretary Mary Jean T. Pacheco has been with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for 18 years, starting as Division Chief of CITEM’s Corporate Planning Division in 1999. She describes herself as a highly motivated, dedicated public service professional with significant contribution and experience in planning, monitoring & evaluation, performance management, public administration, and public policy formulation.
In 2012, as the Director of the DTI’s Corporate Planning Service, she initiated the adoption of the Performance Governance System (PGS) in the DTI, and was instrumental in having the PGS approved by the CSC as the DTI Strategic Performance Management System in 2014. These efforts resulted in the Department of Trade and Industry being named by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) as one of the country’s first “Islands of Good Governance” in 2015, in recognition of efforts the department, to implement sustainable and transformative reforms in public service, a recognition shared with 11 other public sector agencies.
Prior to joining the Executive branch, Assistant Secretary Pacheco was part of the Legislative Branch (Senate of the Philippines) where she served under Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani and Senator Loren Legarda. As HEA of the Senate Committee on Agriculture under Senator Shahani, she was involved in the enactment of several laws on agriculture, notably the (i) Agricultural Tarrification Act; (ii) Philippine Fisheries Code; (iii) Joint Resolution Creating the Congressional Commission on Agricultural Modernization. In 1998, she joined the office of newly elected Senator Loren Legarda, as Director IV, responsible for admin and finance, last February 14, 2018 Jean was promoted to Assistant Secretary of the Competitiveness and Ease of Doing Business Group (CEODBG).
Before entering government, Assistant Secretary Pacheco was involved in policy formulation in organizations such as the Foundation for Resource Linkage and Development (FRLD), and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), where she served 5 years as head of International Affairs Division.
Assistant Secretary Pacheco is a loyal Thomasian having obtained her secondary, undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Santo Tomas. She also received a degree in Masters in Public Policy from Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand.
