Joan Carling
She was born on 30 June 1963 in Baguio City. She is the daughter of a half-Japanese, half-Kankanaey father and a Kankanaey mother. The Kankanaey people belongs to the Igorot group. They are based in the Mountain Province in the Cordillera Central mountain range. After completing high school, she studied social sciences at the University of the Philippines, College of Baguio. She has specialized in sociology. She graduated in 1986.