Atty. Mae Elaine T. Bathan
Undersecretary, Legal and Special Concerns and Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary and Chairperson, Gender and Development Focal Point System of the Department of Tourism
Atty. Mae Elaine Tantengco Bathan is a lady lawyer from Mandaue City, Cebu and a proud Cebuana. She is the Chief of Staff and Undersecretary for Legal and Special Concerns of the Philippine Department of Tourism.
Atty. Elaine has always seen working in the government as an honor, which is a perspective formed by her professional life that is profoundly defined by her years in legal practice and public service since she passed the bar in 2005.
Prior to her stint in the Tourism department, she served as a legal consultant for Talisay City, Municipality of Lilo-an, the 5th Congressional District of Cebu, and for the League of Municipalities Cebu Chapter and also as the General Legal Counsel of Ako Bisaya Partylist. She also stood as the Chief of Staff of the City Government of Mandaue from 2016 to 2019.
Atty. Elaine was a finalist for the Woman Lawyer and Young Lawyer of the Year of the Philippine Law Awards. In 2013, she became the President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines- Cebu City Chapter. She then became the youngest and the first lady Governor of the IBP Eastern Visayas Region in 2015.
Aside from public service, Atty. Elaine found her passion in teaching. She conducts Department of Interior and Local Government- sponsored trainings on Ethics, Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Code of Conduct for Public Officials, and Legal Forms in government Transactions. As a recognized feminist, Gender Sensitivity and VAWC law are one of her expertise. She also conducts lessons on Cybercrime and Data Privacy Law.
Anyone in Cebu probably knows who Atty. Elaine is. As a natural problem solver, she hosts a pro-bono radio show called “Kini ang Akong Suliran” which gives free legal advice and service especially to the underprivileged. But aside from her duties in the government, she never forgets her first love— lawyering.
Today, she still stands as the Assistant Dean in the University of San Jose Recoletos School of Law for 17 years now. She is also a Resident Partner on leave for Divina Law.
