Haydee Yorac

Haydee Bofill Yorac ('haidi; ajˈde.e March 4, 1941 — September 12, 2005) was a Filipina public servant, law professor and politician. Yorac was born on March 4, 1941, in the municipality of Saravia (now E. B. Magalona), Negros Occidental to Jose Yorac and Josefa Bofill. She earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1962. She placed 8th in the 1962 Philippine Bar Examinations, with an 86.95% rating. She was a member of the Order of the Purple Feather (Law Honor Society) while a student of law. She also earned a Master of Laws major in public international law, minor in anthropology from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1981. Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos When Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972, he arrested various lawyers, academics, and intellectuals who were likely to lead protests against the move. Yorac was among the first to be arrested, and was imprisoned in Camp Crame for three months. Upon her release, Yorac volunteered her services to the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), notably helping Lino Brocka and Behn Cervantes when they were charged with inciting to sedition in 1984. Yorac taught and served in the Admissions Screening Committee of the University of the Philippines College of Law. She was an assistant vice president for academic affairs at the University of the Philippines Diliman and a senior researcher at the University of the Philippines Law Center. She also became the chief legal counsel of the University of the Philippines for a few years. She was appointed by then President Corazon Aquino to serve as commissioner of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in 1986. She was also a key figure in the new government's peace process, having served as chairperson of the National Unification Council a predecessor of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which was created on the council's recommendation in July 1993.