Haydee Yorac was a
FilipinoThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
public servantThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, law professor and
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early life
Yorac was born on March 4, 1941 in
E. B. MagalonaEnrique B. Magalona is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 54,490 people in 10,498 households....
,
Negros OccidentalNegros Occidental is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Bacolod City and it occupies the northwestern half of Negros Island; Negros Oriental is at the southeastern half...
. She earned a
Bachelor of LawsThe Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from the
University of the PhilippinesThe ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
in 1962. She also earned a
Master of ArtsA Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
major in Public International Law, minor in
AnthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrÅpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
from
Yale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in
New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
in 1981.
Private career
Yorac taught and served in the Admissions Screening Committee of the
University of the Philippines College of LawUniversity of the Philippines College of Law or UP Law is the law school of the University of the Philippines. Since 1948, it has been located at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, the flagship campus of UP's seven constituent universities. Until the 1970s, night classes of...
. She was an Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of the Philippines Diliman and a Senior Researcher of the University of the Philippines Law Center.
Public career
She was appointed by then President
Corazon AquinoMaria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office in Philippine history. She is best remembered for leading the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines...
to serve as Commissioner of the
Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC)The Commission on Elections, or COMELEC, is one of the three constitutional commissions of the Philippines. Its principal role is to enforce all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections, initiatives, referendums, and recalls....
in 1986. Later, she was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Chairwoman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), an independent agency tasked to recover the ill-gotten wealth of deposed President
Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
, his family and cronies.
Yorac vied for a seat in the
Philippine SenateThe Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
in the 1998 national elections but lost. For restoring public trust to the PCGG and a lifetime dedicated to public service, she received the
Ramon Magsaysay AwardThe Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
for government service.
Death
Yorac battled with ovarian cancer and died on September 13, 2005 in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, aged 64. Her remains were buried at the
Libingan ng mga Bayaniis a national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It was established as a fitting resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals, as well as heroes and martyrs...
. She was succeeded as PCGG Chairperson by veteran lawyer and constitutionalist
Camilo SabioCamilo Sabio is a public lawyer and past chairman of the Philippines' Presidential Commission on Good Government. He previously held the position of Secretary-General in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1992 to 1998 under Jose de Venecia....
.
Publications
- "Legal Status of Mercenaries"
- "Preventive Detention and Metaphysics of Repression"
- "Child Custody Determinations: A Reappraisal"
- "The Philippine Claim to the Spratly Island Group," Philippine Law Journal
The Philippine Law Journal, informally known as the PLJ, is an academic law review published four times a year by the University of the Philippines College of Law....
- Philippine Treaty Series, Vols. 1-4, 6-7 (editor)
Professional and Civic Affiliations