

A 67-year-old Filipino male marine biologist with a plus-size build and a broad, round face marked by deep laugh lines, heavy-lidded eyes behind thick tortoiseshell square glasses, and a wide flat nose. His silver-white hair is thick and wavy, swept back from a high forehead, and he wears a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper goatee. He is dressed in a teal linen mandarin-collar shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, layered under a cream knit cardigan, paired with dark olive trousers and a brass compass pendant on a leather cord around his neck. His energy is warm, professorial, and gently commanding — a man who has spent decades studying coral reef ecosystems and carries quiet authority with deep kindness.