Personal Information

Birthdate: January 11, 1957

Age on election day: 68 years old

Birthplace: Manila, Metro Manila

Residence: Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila

Civil status: married

Spouse: Nathalie Lourdes Africa

Profession/occupation (as stated in COC): lawyer


Education

• studied grade school and high school in Flushing, New York City, USA (1967-1975) and La Salle Greenhills (1975)
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, University of the Philippines - Diliman (1975-1980)
• Bachelor of Laws, College of Law, Ateneo de Manila University, Makati (1982-1987)
• Masters in Public Administration Studies, National College for Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines - Diliman (1996-1998)
• continuing education
  • Public Management Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (March 1997)
  • Executive Programme on E-Government and E-Governance, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Harvard Business School in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, Singapore (February 2002)

Career

• Newspaper delivery boy (1972)
• Bicycle mechanic (1973-1974)
• Carpenter, painter, swimming pool installer (1973)
• Brand assistant, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Makati (1980-1982)
• Assistant brand manager, GF Equity, Holland (Alaska) Milk, Makati (1982)
• Brand manager, ASD Marketing, Inc. (country representative of Quaker Oats Cereal Products), Makati (1982-1985)
• Legal writer/researcher, Office of Justice Simeon Gopengco, Court of Appeals, Manila (1985)
• Paralegal, Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRA), Manila (1987-1988)
• Associate lawyer, Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRA), Manila (1988-1991)
• Representative, Catanduanes Lone District (1992-1995, 1995-1998, 1998-2001)
• Governor, Catanduanes (2001-2004, 2004-2007)
• Private law practice, Verceles Law Office, Muntinlupa City (2007-present)
• Chief operating officer, MySecretaryOnline Secretarial Services (creator and business model designer of www.angelPA.com, Virtual Personal Assistant Service (2014-2015)
• Founder, chairman, chief executive officer and chief product architect, TRAD, Inc. (Traffic Reduction and Deterrence [TRAD] mobile app)

Candidacy in the 2025 Philippine elections

Position sought: Senator

Party: Independent

Period of residence in the Philippines up to the day before May 12, 2025: 60 years

Registered voter of: Barangay San Isidro, Virac, Catanduanes



Campaign platform (verbatim)

NEW DIRECTION PLATFORM & MOVEMENT

The “New Direction” platform of independent senatorial candidate Leandro “Lee” Verceles is centered on providing WORLD-CLASS education to all Filipino students and out-of-school youth, with the goal of securing the nation’s survival, prosperity, and advancement to First-World country status by 2050. By focusing on accessible, high-quality education, the platform seeks to empower disadvantaged Filipinos, lifting them out of poverty and creating a brighter future for the country. This initiative is not limited to Verceles’ candidacy alone - it is a movement open to candidates from all political affiliations and levels, united in the mission to transform the nation through education.

New Direction envisions a future where every student and out-of-school youth in the
Philippines have access to hyper-personalized learning via an online AI (Artificial
Intelligence) teacher, each with a LAPTOP, and free internet.

This New Direction platform addresses a universal issue that resonates across all voter
demographics. At its core, New Direction focuses on education as the foundation for
national and local progress, and harnesses the power of AI- a technology that many Filipinos are already familiar with through platforms like Meta AI on Facebook and Gemini on Google.

The platform offers a bold, forward-thinking solution to what we believe is the country’s most pressing issue: miseducation. By addressing this fundamental challenge, we can create ripple effects that make it easier to solve many of the other issues facing our nation.

It starts and ends with world-class quality education. New Direction provides the
opportunity to radically transform our education system, laying the groundwork for a
brighter, more prosperous future for all Filipinos.

The issues such as vote-buying, criminality, drug abuse, corruption, mismanagement of government authority and funds, and the election of incompetent or underqualified
individuals to public office are merely symptoms of a deeper problem: an educationally deprived citizenry. The root cause is the lack of access to quality education. By improving education and empowering the people with knowledge and critical thinking skills, and consequently electing better leaders, these problems will not only diminish but become much easier to address and resolve.

What is the New Direction Movement?

The New Direction movement demonstrated in a platform seeks to radically improve the teacher-student ratio in the Philippines, which in public schools today is over 1:30 (many public schools even 1:50+), by shifting to a 1:1 ratio. Summative Achievement Scores of teacher-to-students ratio of 1:30 conventional learning, 1:30 master learning, and 1:1 tutorial (teacher)/hyper-personalized learning is seen in the Bloom1 chart below. Please note the huge disparities among these methods.

Notes:

To ensure the survival and prosperity of the Philippines, and to achieve First-World country status by 2050, the nation must invest in a highly educated citizenry. This can be achieved through a New Direction in education, driven by hyper-personalized, AI-powered teaching and tutoring, with a 1:1 AI online teacher-student ratio.

New Direction is an innovative educational approach needing an enabling law designed to empower students through personalized learning experiences. By tailoring instruction to each student's unique needs, it fosters the development of critical skills and knowledge, aggressively driving the country’s growth and long-term progress.

The disparity is likely even worse in the Philippines given the low standard of elementary education even at a teacher-student 1:30 ratio and evidently 1:50+ ratio in many areas around the country.

Going back, the 1:1 ratio may sound impossible, but it’s achievable with AI-driven hyper-personalized learning. Therefore:

• 38 million students and out-of-school youth in the Philippines will each have their own online AI teacher.
• Every student will be provided with a laptop and free internet to download educational materials for offline use.
• All 42,046 barangay plazas and 45,000+ schools will be connected to the internet, most likely by Starlink satellite internet.

The goal is to provide a world-class education equivalent to the top five global
systems -those of the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland,
and Australia - by harnessing the power of AI to enhance learning.

AI-driven hyper-personalized learning is already being piloted in schools across the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and China. While these initiatives are still in the early stages, it’s clear that AI-enhanced education with the aforementioned 1:1 ratio will soon become the global standard. The pace of change is rapid, and it is only a matter of time before it reshapes the way we learn worldwide.

For the Philippines, this is an existential challenge. If the government fails to act swiftly in integrating AI hyper-personalized - 1:1 teacher-student ratio - learning into our education system, we risk falling irreversibly behind in the global education race. This is not just about competitiveness; it’s about keeping pace in an AI-driven world that is evolving at breakneck speed. At stake is the future of our nation, which is already on fragile footing. Without decisive action, the Philippines faces the grave risk of financial collapse, pouring resources into treating the symptoms of systemic issues rather than addressing the root cause: widespread miseducation. The time to act is now. We are already late.

Why is this platform impactful as a campaign issue?

New Direction addresses every voter - from tertiary level students and parents to
grandparents - creating a universal appeal. The transformative power of education,
combined with modern AI technology, can drive the Philippines toward becoming a global leader in education and innovation.

Through New Direction and hyper-personalized AI learning, our nation can leapfrog to first-world status by the middle of this century, driven by a highly educated population.

Collaboration - how can other candidates get involved?

Any candidate regardless of political affiliation or level can participate in the New Direction movement. It is non-exclusive. Whether you are running for senator, partylist, congressman/congresswoman, governor, vice-governor, city or municipal mayor or vice-mayor, or any board or council member, you can endorse and use this platform in your campaign. We apply the teamwork approach; flyers can be created for this joint effort.

What’s Next as regards the collaboration?

Once elected, we ask the then candidates having campaigned on the New Direction
platform may legislate this transformative vision by co-authoring a bill in Congress and make New Direction a law. In support of this initiative, local officials can also submit board resolutions and forward them to the Senate through the undersigned and send a copy to the Office of the President. The President may then certify a New Direction administration bill that will hurry up the process in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Lee Verceles will enact a law that will implement New Direction: World-Class education with hyper-personalized learning via AI online teachers at a 1:1 teacher-student ratio, a laptop for every student and out-of-school youth, and free internet.

This is an exciting and historic opportunity to contribute to the future of our nation by
investing in education. We believe that with all supporting the New Direction, we can bring about lasting change and the brightest future for every Filipino.

We look forward to collaboration with candidates on the New Direction platform.


Election history

ELECTION YEAR	POSITION SOUGHT	PARTY	OUTCOME
1992	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	LAKAS-NUCD	won
1995	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	LAKAS NUCD-UMDP	won
1998	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	LAKAS NUCD-UMDP	won
2001	Governor, Catanduanes	LAKAS NUCD-UMDP	won
2004	Governor, Catanduanes	LAKAS-CMD	won
2007	Governor, Catanduanes	LAKAS-CMD	lost
2010	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	LKS-KAM	lost
2013	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	LDP	lost
2016	Representative, Catanduanes Lone District	Independent	lost
2022	Vice President	Independent	declared as a nuisance candidate

Sources:

Personal Information
Sources: 2025 COC, candidate’s bio

Education
Source: candidate’s bio

Career
Source: candidate’s bio, Comelec

Candidacy in the 2025 Philippine elections
Sources: COC 2025, candidates’ campaign platform

Election history
Source: Comelec