LONG before her appointment as head of the national space agency, Gay Jane Perez was already a central figure in the Philippines’ satellite program. As lead scientist of Diwata-1 and Diwata-2, the country’s first microsatellites, she helped establish domestic capability in spacecraft development and Earth observation, marking a turning point for Philippine space activities.
On January 26, 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Perez as director general of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA). She is the agency’s second chief, following her service as officer-in-charge since September 2025 and her earlier role as deputy director general for space science and technology. The position carries Cabinet rank and includes advisory responsibilities on national space policy.
Perez’s leadership signals a shift toward operational use of space systems. On January 27, PhilSA signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to apply satellite data and geospatial analysis to assess climate-related risks with potential economic and financial impacts. The initiative aims to support disaster impact monitoring and improve early insights relevant to inflation and economic resilience.
Her policy framework centers on “Yamang Kalawakan,” or the national space ecosystem, which emphasizes integrating space technologies into development planning. Priorities include expanding international cooperation and ensuring that research outputs are converted into tools for sectors such as agriculture, disaster risk management, and environmental monitoring.
Perez holds a doctorate in physics from the University of the Philippines Diliman and completed postdoctoral research at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Her work on satellite-based drought analysis earned the Asean-US Science Prize for Women in 2018.
PhilSA’s near-term technical focus includes advancing the Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) satellite, a project Perez has overseen since its early development stages.