Mark is an assistant professor at the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP SURP). He teaches theory and practice of planning, land use planning, planning workshop, project planning and development, planning process, special problems in estate planning and development, planning law, and research methods in planning.
Mark was previously an assistant professor at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG) teaching administrative law, ethics and accountability in the public service, management of organizations, public fiscal administration, local government and regional administration, special topics in public administration, program and project implementation, and local government and regional administration. He was also an affiliate assistant professor at the Faculty of Management and Development Studies of the UP Open University where he taught public policy and program administration, urban plan implementation, and urban and metropolitan administration and development for almost a decade. He served as visiting professor at the College of Politics and Governance of the Mahasarakham University in Thailand. He was awarded a fellowship under the UNESCO and the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV) co-sponsored Fellowships Programme at the Weitz Center for Sustainable Development in Rehovot, Israel.
As a lawyer and registered and licensed environmental planner, he specializes in legal geography and planning law, and his professional practice encompasses a diverse field of environmental planning that includes land use legislation, policy, and administration; spatial and comprehensive development planning; real estate planning and development; smart cities and neighborhoods; strategic foresight and futures thinking in local planning; and anticipatory governance and institutional capacity development planning. His primary research interests lie in the areas of the judiciary and the city; land use institutions, urban morphology, and spatial justice; the influences of law and jurisprudence in shaping the socio-spatial patterns of land use in urban areas; and strategic foresight, futures thinking, and anticipatory planning and governance. Among the recent academic papers and journal articles he has published as lead author/co-author are on the National Urban Policy of the Philippines; City of Manila and Batangas City case studies on healthy and learning cities and neighborhoods; and neighborhood patterns and sustainable development.
In addition to teaching, Mark has served the University of the Philippines in various capacities including as residential program coordinator and, later on, as College Secretary and Director of the Center for Public Administration and Governance Education of the UP NCPAG; Director for Procurement Operations at the Office of the UP System Vice President for Administration; Faculty-in-Charge of the 2016 Performance-Based Bonus Performance Management for the University of the Philippines Diliman; and Program Director of the UP Program for Environmental Governance and of the Nurturing Growth in Communities through Partnerships Project both at the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies. He currently serves as a member of different committees in the University such as the technical working group for the formulation of a Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan for UP Diliman and the UP SURP admissions committee. He is a fellow of the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute serving as project leader and/or land use planner for a number of spatial and comprehensive planning activities for several local government units in the Philippines
Outside the academe, Mark has served as consultant for various international, national, and local government entities. He is actively involved in the promotion of antidisciplinary approach to neighborhood science at the Centre for Neighbourhood Studies—a research and technology institution on neighborhood science engaged in research and development, capacity enhancement, and partnership-building towards the sustainable transformation of neighborhoods—where he serves as the Centre’s chief operating officer and general counsel.
He currently serves as the in-country co-investigator for the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy, and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods Philippines, which is part of an international consortium of nine research partners aiming to strengthen capacity to address urban, health and education challenges in neighbourhoods across fast-growing cities in Africa and Asia. He likewise serves as the co-investigator for the Local Challenges, Global imperatives: Cities at the Forefront to Achieve Education 2030 or the Cities and Education 2030 led by the UNESCO-IIEP and the University of Glasgow.
Mark regularly delivers talks and serves as a resource person for professionals and practitioners on a wide range of topics which include spatial and land use planning; institutional development planning; institutional capacity assessment and development; legal foundations for environmental planning; evidence-based legislation; codification of local ordinances; policy resolutions and parliamentary rules; public policy analysis and development; and strategic planning and process.
Mark obtained his Bachelor of Arts (Public Administration), Post Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning, Master of Arts (Urban and Regional Planning), and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He currently is a Doctor of Philosophy (Urban and Regional Planning) candidate at UP SURP.