Haydee Bofill Yorac (; March 4, 1941 — September 12, 2005) was a

Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Early life

Yorac was born on March 4, 1941, in the municipality of Saravia (now E. B. Magalona),

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...

. She earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

in 1962. She placed 8th in the 1962 Philippine Bar Examinations, with an 86.95% rating. She was a member of Purple Feather (Law Honor Society) while a student of law. She also earned a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mo ...

major in

public international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, minor in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, in 1981.

Martial law

When

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

placed the Philippines under

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

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 Camp General Rafael T. Crame () is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. It is situated across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of ...

for three months. Upon her release, Yorac volunteered her services to the

Free Legal Assistance Group The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) is a nationwide organization of human rights lawyers in the Philippines. It was founded in 1974 by Sen. Jose W. Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada and Joker Arroyo during the martial law era under former Preside ...

(FLAG), notably helping

Lino Brocka Catalino Ortiz Brocka (April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991) was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. He co-founded the organization Concerned Ar ...

and

Behn Cervantes Benjamín Roberto "Behn" H. Cervantes (August 25, 1938 – August 13, 2013) was a Filipino artist and activist. He was highly regarded as a theater pioneer, teacher, and progressive thinker who was detained multiple times during martial law in the ...

when they were charged with inciting to sedition in 1984.

Private career

Yorac taught and served in the Admissions Screening Committee of the

University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...

. 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. She also became the chief legal counsel of the University of the Philippines for a few years.

Public career

She was appointed by then President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

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. Yorac vied for a seat in the

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...

in the 1998 national elections through the Reporma–LM party of

Renato de Villa Renato "Rene" Salud de Villa (born July 20, 1935) is a Filipino former police and military officer and government official. He served as Chief of Philippine Constabulary, Director-General of the Integrated National Police, and Chief of Staff of ...

but lost.

Death

Yorac battled with breast cancer and died on September 12, 2005, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, aged 64. Her remains were buried at the

Libingan ng mga Bayani Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB, , ) is a national cemetery within Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) in Metro Manila, Philippines. First established in May 1947 as a fitting resting place for Philippine military personnel fro ...

. She was succeeded as PCGG chair by Camilo Sabio.

Legacy

For her activism and volunteer legal work during martial law, and for her later work at the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

and the

Presidential Commission on Good Government The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is a quasi-judicial government agency of the Philippines whose primary mandate is to recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by Ferdinand Marcos, his immediate family, relatives, subordin ...

, Yorac was honored upon her death by having her name etched on the Wall of Remembrance of the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which honors the martyrs and heroes who fought to defeat the Marcos dictatorship.

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'' is an academic student-run law review affiliated with the UP College of Law at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Established in August 1914, the ''Journal'' marked its 100th anniversary in 2014 as the oldes ...

'' *Philippine Treaty Series, Vols. 1–4, 6–7 (editor)

Professional and civic affiliations

Integrated Bar of the Philippines
*Philippine Society of International Law
American Society of International Law
*Free Legal Assistance Group (National Board Member)
Alpha Phi Omega">U.P. Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines), Alpha Phi Omega
sorority (Formerly U.P. Kappa Phi Omega Sorority)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorac, Haydee 1941 births 2005 deaths Deaths from ovarian cancer Deaths from cancer in Illinois Filipino women lawyers University of the Philippines alumni Ramon Magsaysay Award winners People from Negros Occidental Heads of government agencies of the Philippines Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma politicians Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani Arroyo administration personnel Corazon Aquino administration personnel 20th-century Filipino women politicians 20th-century Filipino politicians Individuals honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani 20th-century Filipino lawyers Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)