Ernie has 20 years of solid experience in the field of Information Technology (IT) and is skilled in project and bid management. He started out as a Science Research Specialist in the Philippines' Department of Science and Technology's (DOST) Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI). While in ASTI, he also became its Chief Science Research Specialist working on R&D and technology transfer efforts in the field of advanced software i.e. multimedia, Internet, computer networking, embedded systems and signal processing. Later on, Ernie joined Sun Microsystems Philippines, Inc., and was recognized as one of its outstanding employees. As the Senior Team Lead/ IT Architect, he provided direction for a team of technical consultants for solutions and IT architecture. He also worked for BEENET Singapore Pte. Ltd. managing a group of consultants in the areas of e-commerce and managed services.

Ernie finished a master's degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman and earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at the same institution where he was a consistent scholar.