Ann Cuisia Biography
Ann Cuisia was born on July 19, 1977, in Quezon City, Philippines. She is a Filipino technology entrepreneur best known as the founder and CEO of TraXion Tech and for her work in fintech and blockchain for social good.. Ann studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Santo Tomas between 1992 and 1996, a foundation that later guided her into financial technology and digital platforms. Her academic training gave her firm grounding in logic and systems thinking. Ann Cuisia is 48 years old as of 2026.
Ann is also known in some public records as Ann Cuisia-Lindayag, a name tied to an earlier marriage to film director and producer Roderick Lindayag. She is a mother who balances family responsibilities with high-pressure work. Her children, Nicole and Joshua, are part of her life story and she often speaks about the need to create technologies that help families and communities thrive. In the last few years Ann has moved from being a behind-the-scenes tech founder to one of the more public civilian voices shaping technology policy in the Philippines. That transition blends entrepreneurship, public service and media presence into a single public identity.
Ann Cuisia Relationship With Edu Manzano
Ann Cuisia’s private life became a subject of wide public interest when her relationship with actor and TV host Edu Manzano was revealed in 2026. The couple were long the subject of social rumours before colleagues at Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN), where both serve as anchors, publicly “hard launched” the romance at a friend’s wedding.
The PGMN post made clear that the two were now publicly a couple, and the confirmation followed earlier, softer signs of their closeness — most notably when the pair were seen holding hands at a prayer rally commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution on February 25. Manzano also referred to Ann as his “life partner” in a social-media post, deepening public confirmation of the relationship and making headlines across entertainment and tech pages.
The news drew extra attention because both individuals have distinct public images: Manzano with a long career in film and television and Ann with a growing profile in fintech and policy. Their relationship also came after Manzano’s previous public romance with actress Cherry Pie Picache, which started in 2021 and ended two years later, though the two remain on friendly terms.
Reports say Manzano and Cuisia had been close for months before the public reveal, and the couple were later seen together at friends’ events, including a reunion with old acquaintances in August 2025. For Ann, who has kept much of her private life discreet, the public relationship with a high-profile actor meant more media attention — not just on her personal life but on how a leading technologist and a veteran media personality might influence public conversations together.
Ann Cuisia Career
Ann Cuisia’s professional life spans more than twenty years in information technology, enterprise finance systems and fintech innovation. She rose through corporate IT roles early in her career, learning how financial systems are built and how large organisations manage transitions to digital ways of working. Her early positions included IT leadership at institutions such as Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and Robinsons Land Corporation. Those posts taught her the practical challenges of legacy banking systems, compliance, and the operational side of enterprise IT. With that experience, she left corporate roles to launch startups aimed at real social problems: inclusion, transparency and community finance.
As founder and CEO of TraXion Tech, Ann built a company that focuses on blockchain solutions and fintech designed specifically to reach underserved communities in the Philippines. TraXion Tech’s projects include digiCOOP, a digital cooperative platform that helps cooperative members access banking and payment services online. The platform brings basic financial services, recordkeeping, and marketplaces to cooperatives that previously relied on cash and paper. Another flagship product is Gava, a crowdfunding platform built to support social causes and non-profit fundraising in a more affordable, accessible way. Through Gava, small charities and community groups can run campaigns and accept secure digital donations without the overheads and fees that often block grassroots fundraisers.
Beyond products, Ann leads the Kadena Hub, a blockchain accelerator based in Mindanao. The Kadena Hub focuses on regional innovation, helping local entrepreneurs and civic groups adopt distributed ledger technologies for transparency, land records, supply chain traceability and microfinance. For her work, Ann was recognised as a “Blockchain Champion” at the Philippine Block Awards and listed among Asia’s Top Women Disruptors in Blockchain. Those honours reflect both technical achievement and practical impact.
Ann’s public voice in policy is as important as her product work. She has made a point of attending congressional hearings and joining policy discussions, not as a lobbyist pushing a single vendor solution, but as a practitioner who tests legislation against real technical constraints. A notable example came when an early version of the CADENA Act included a requirement that government spending be tracked specifically on blockchain.
Ann publicly argued that such a prescription risks locking government into one technology and that the law should instead require traceability and auditability without naming a fixed technical tool. Her intervention, and other public input, helped producers of the bill change its language to prioritize outcomes over technology mandates. Ann wrote an op-ed after the revision praising lawmakers such as Senator Bam Aquino for being open to public technical input and highlighting how better law comes from careful, evidence-based debate.
Ann has also been vocal on cybersecurity. At a Technical Working Group hearing in the House of Representatives she cautioned against concentrating too much monitoring or control in a single agency and warned that cybersecurity powers must have strict guardrails to avoid mission creep into content or opinion monitoring. Her testimony called for clear mandates: protect networks, guard critical infrastructure, and avoid policies that unintentionally chill open source research or free expression.
On tax reform and digital compliance, Ann has taken a blunt view: the Philippines has many tools to modernize revenue collection but lacks political will. She advocates mandatory digital tax compliance, a stronger revenue authority equipped for modern digital flows, and alignment with global minimum tax standards. In her view, policy failure is often a governance issue, not a technology gap.
Ann’s commitment to civic life goes beyond speechmaking. She is a member of Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines, a civil society group focused on how technology can support national development. She regularly speaks at fintech forums across Southeast Asia, mentors female founders, and runs praise clinics and training programs to bring more women into tech leadership.
Her media role as the first technology anchor at Peanut Gallery Media Network adds another layer to her public reach. Through PGMN she translates technical debates into plain language for a wider audience, explaining why a particular policy matter matters to a taxpayer, a small business owner, or a community leader. Because of this mixed role — entrepreneur, policy practitioner, and media commentator — Ann sits at the junction of public debate and practical implementation. She uses each platform to test ideas and to push for laws that work in the real world.
Ann has held governance roles too. She has served as an Independent Director at the Public Safety Savings and Loan Association, Inc., and as a Trustee of the Landbank Countryside Development Foundation Inc., positions that connect her to rural finance, cooperative development and institutional oversight. These formal roles complement her startup work and show how she moves between building tools and helping institutions use them responsibly.
In all her public remarks Ann stresses that technology must be technology-neutral in law, centered on people, and aimed at measurable outcomes: more money in the hands of the poor, better audit trails for public spending, faster access to credit for small traders, and transparent fundraising for community causes. She frames her own interventions as coming from the perspective of a taxpayer and practitioner rather than an inventor who wants to lock government into one product.
Conclusion
Ann Cuisia work at TraXion Tech, the digiCOOP initiative, Gava, and the Kadena Hub shows steady focus on financial inclusion and civic technology. Her recent visibility — both in policy halls and in media, and in her public relationship with Edu Manzano — has expanded her platform. She uses that platform to press for clear, accountable policy that serves ordinary Filipinos and to remind lawmakers that the best law is the one that will work on the ground. Whether in a congressional hearing, a startup pitch, or a TV segment, Ann Cuisia presents the same message: technology must be a tool for people, not a shortcut around democratic debate.
FAQs
What is digiCOOP and how did Ann Cuisia build it?
digiCOOP is a digital cooperative platform built to give cooperative members online banking, payments and marketplaces. Ann created it through TraXion Tech to modernize cooperatives and extend financial services to underserved groups.
Why did Ann Cuisia oppose a blockchain mandate in the CADENA Act?
She argued that laws should require traceability and auditability of public funds but remain technology-neutral. She warned that mandating a specific technology like blockchain risks locking institutions into one solution and can create commercial bias in law.
What is Ann Cuisia’s connection to Edu Manzano?
Ann and actor-host Edu Manzano publicly confirmed their relationship in 2026 after colleagues at Peanut Gallery Media Network posted about the couple. They were seen together at public events, including a People Power anniversary rally.
Henry Jude writes about biotechnology and housing technology, focusing on the latest trends. He has 15 years of experience reporting on and analyzing advances in these fields. Holding both a BSc and an MSc in Biotechnology, he uses his scientific training to explain complex ideas clearly and show how new technologies can be applied in real life.
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