Jose Luis Martin C. Gascon
| Chito Gascon | |
|---|---|
| 7th Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights | |
|
Assumed office 18 June 2015 |
|
| President |
Benigno Aquino III Rodrigo Duterte |
| Preceded by | Marc Cabreros |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
José Luis Martin Gascon Manila, Philippines |
| Alma mater | University of the Philippines |
Jose Luis Martin C. Gascon, known as Chito Gascon, is a Filipino lawyer, civil organizer, and human-rights activist. In 2015 he was appointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III as the Chair of the Human Rights Commission of the Philippines (2015-2022).
Prior to that he served as member of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board, the body mandated by law to administer a program of recognition and reparations to victims of the Martial Law Regime. At this office, he held a rank equivalent to Justice of the Court of Appeals. He is a political activist and social reformer who has been working on human rights, democracy, and governance concerns for over three decades.
Gascon fought the Marcos dictatorship as a student leader. In the wake of the assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino on 21 August 1983, he helped mobilize protest actions in schools demanding justice for all and radical political change. In 1985, He was elected Chair of the University of the Philippines Student Council in 1985 and led the youth movement that actively participated in the Non-Violent People Power Revolution in February 1986. He organized Human Rights Awareness Fairs in campuses and was an active member of Amnesty International Philippine Section at which he served for many years as a board member. He also actively campaigned for the release of Political Prisoners and visited detention centers with Lingap Bilanggo. He is a member of Liberal International's Human Rights Committee & was also alternate member in the Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Judicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances established under AO 35. He was in the Official Delegation for the 2012 Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in Geneva that was led by Justice Secretary and former CHR Chair Leila De Lima.
He has been involved in many different civil society political alliances working for human rights and democracy such as the Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL 1 & 2), Bansang Nagkaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA), the Black & White Movement, Social Liberals & Democrats for the Advancement of Reforms (SoLiDAR), and Re:Publika@DemokraXXIa - a new network of progressive activists. He was previously the Executive Director to both the liberal think tank National Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS) from 1987-2002 and LIBERTAS - a lawyers' network on the Rule of Law from 2005-2008. He was founding trustee and corporate counsel of the International Center for Innovation, Transformation, and Excellence in Governance (InciteGov) - the policy group of the so-called "Hyatt 10," and is part of its Advisory Group. He is Founding Trustee of the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy (iLEAD) and was in the organizing committee of the Asian Democracy Network (ADN). He was Director General of the Liberal Party from 2008-2011 and was Political Director of its successful 2010 National Electoral Campaign. He has taught Law, Politics, & Human Rights at the Political Science Departments at both the Ateneo de Manila and De la Salle Universities. He was also a Fellow at the Robredo Institute of Governance (RSIG).
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