Director Gwendolyn Cabataña Bambalan was born in Masbate, Masbate.

In 1981, Director Bambalan graduated cum laude with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Administration major in Agricultural Economics at the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation in Malabon, Metro Manila. She finished her Master of Science in Social Development at the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City in 1992 and Doctor of Public Administration at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Director Bambalan was a consistent scholar having been a recipient of scholarship grants from college to doctorate degrees.

On June 16, 2020, Director Bambalan assumed as OIC, Regional Executive Director of DENR Region 2 by virtue of Special Order No. 2020-191 issued by then Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.

A Director IV by position, she was appointed to Career Service Executive Officer IV (CESO IV) rank in December 2020 and consequently promoted to CESO III rank in March 2022.

Prior to her assignment in Region 2, she was the Assistant Regional Director for Management Services in DENR National Capital Region. From 2015-2018, she also assumed the post as Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services in Region 1 where she was a regional winner of the Civil Service Commission’s Pagasa Award. She was also a finalist to the 2018 Gawad CES Presidential Award.

She served as Regional Technical Director for Protected Area, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management in DENR MIMAROPA from 2012 to 2015. She held the designation as Officer-In-Charge, Finance and Administrative Division at the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) for seven years.

Regional Executive Director Bambalan first joined the DENR in 1981 as Agronomist in the then Bureau of Forest Development (BFD). In 1985, she became the Project Development Coordinator under the Integrated Social Forestry Division of the BFD.

She is a board member of the DENR Association of Career Executives, member of the National Union of Career Executives, and faculty in-charge at the University of the Philippines Open University.

The lady director is also the President of the SaveCoconut Foundation Inc, since 2018. The Foundation is a network of former COCOFED scholars in the 1970s that supports children of coconut farmers in acquiring college education.

She is a champion of gender responsiveness and equality in the organization and program implementation with decades of active involvement in community forestry all over the country.#