Pleased to sit down with Michael Aguinaldo, Chairperson of the Philippine Competition Commission for the Penn State Dickinson Law Profiles in Leadership series.

His career offers a remarkable window into leadership across institutions: nearly two decades in private practice, senior service in the Office of the President, leadership of the Philippine Commission on Audit, and now the country’s competition authority.

Our conversation covers how leaders build public trust by combining institutional independence with judgment, restraint, and a willingness to learn before leading. We discuss his formative years in Manila, legal education in the Philippines and at Michigan, the transition from private practice to public service, the pressures of safeguarding audit independence, and the challenge of building a competition culture in a developing economy.

He talks about a $20 write-off, a deceptively simple example of how proportionality and common sense can improve government. We also explore how the Philippine Competition Commission is making competition law meaningful to ordinary citizens, managing political and corruption risks, and strengthening its enforcement capacity toward 2030.

He brings unusual clarity, humility, and practical wisdom to questions of institutional leadership. I learned a great deal from our conversation and hope others will as well.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZXJRFw-XU