Meet our Executive Team

Geraldine Ann M. Layaoen

Business Development Manager

Geraldine Ann Layaoen holds a degree in BSc in Biology from the University of the Philippines Los Banos and Masters in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management. She started her career in a research institute focusing on rice production improvement. Geraldine combines 5 years of specialized genetic research management with an innate sense of systematic process driven approach and collaborative skills.

As the Business Development Manager, she continuously builds good relationships with local farmers, government agencies and end customers. She is a strong advocate for sustainable development and is continually focused on the triple bottom line of economy, society and environment.

Heathel Loren Z. Layaoen

Head Agricultural Engineer

Heathel Loren Layaoen holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering major in Agricultural Power and Machinery Engineering from the University of the Philippines Los Banos. He started his career in agriculture machine testing and later on joined a company which supplies postharvest machineries for rice production. He owns his own rice farm together with his wife, cultivating Philippine heirloom rice varieties and putting his knowledge of farm management and mechanization into practice.

As the Head Agricultural Engineer, he innovates to avoid bottlenecks in the supply chain for rice straw collection and processing. His vision is to improve and modernise agricultural production in the Philippines and reduce its environmental footprint.

Marie Jehosa B. Reyes

Facility Management Engineer

Marie Jehosa Reyes holds a MSc in Agricultural Engineering major in Land and Water Resources Engineering from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She started her career in agricultural machinery testing, standards development, policy and development research. Her interest is in making agricultural systems more sustainable and climate resilient.

As the Facility Management Engineer, she designs and leads tests to improve rice straw biogas yields and economics.

Rhaniel Delos Santos

Site Manager

Rhaniel Rhett delos Santos holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from University of the Philippines Los Baños. He started his career specialising in project management for the wastewater industry, covering pre-planning, feasibility study, design, construction and operation to prove processes. His passion in process engineering has taken him to also study data analytics and machine learning. At Straw Innovations, he designs, analyzes data, and develops new processes to optimize bioenergy production from rice straw, producing scalable models for setup.

Cedric Cornejo

Operations Engineer

Cedric Cornejo is an Agricultural Engineer who previously worked for the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) before joining Straw Innovations in 2021. He obtained his degree 'Magna Cum Laude' and came first nationally in his board exams. His passion is to use his skills to benefit local rice farmers and the environment, which is why he has found his natural home, developing improved straw handling systems at Straw Innovations.

Alexis Belonio

Gasification Specialist

Alexis Belonio is an Agricultural and Biosystems Engineer, specialising in gasification of rice biomass. He is drawing on his 35 years' experience to design a new rice gasification system for rice straw and husks, paired with a dryer that will widen Straw Innovations' offering to local rice farmers.

Ian McChesney

Biochar Specialist

Ian McChesney has been Director of Biochar Project Services for 17 years and specialises in design and development of innovative biochar systems. He is helping the Straw Innovations team to produce a rice drying and biochar system specifically for rice straw.