Clarissa "Claire" Angeles Castro-Seechung (born June 27, 1969) is a Filipino lawyer and podcaster. In February 2025, she was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and Press Officer of

Malacañang Palace Malacañang Palace (, ), officially known as Malacañán Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila district of San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, along Jose Laurel S ...

Education

Castro graduated from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

with a degree in political science and, later, a law degree, graduating laude. She also holds a Master’s degree in law. As a lawyer, Castro has her own private law office and was also the head of the

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines. Caloo ...

Malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just north of the city of Manila, Malabon is ...

, and

Navotas Navotas, officially the City of Navotas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it ha ...

chapter of the

Integrated Bar of the Philippines The Integrated Bar of the Philippines ( abbreviated as IBP) is the national organization of lawyers in the Philippines. It is the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers. History The IBP was established as an official organization for ...

Career

Radio Host and Podcaster

Castro was previously the host of the legal-advice radio show ''Usapang de Campanilla'' on

DZMM DZMM (630 AM) Radyo Patrol is a radio station owned by Philippine Collective Media Corporation and operated conjointly with ABS-CBN Corporation under Media Serbisyo Production Corporation. The station's studios is located at the ABS-CBN Broad ...

, as well as one of the three co-hosts of the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

live talk show '' 3-in1''. She also previously wrote a column for ''

Abante ''Abante'' (lit. ''Move forward'') is a daily Filipino tabloid publication in the Philippines. Its offices are in Quezon City and Parañaque. It is owned by Prage Management Corporation, a media company owned by two veteran journalists who ...

''. Castro co-hosts the "Usapang Batas" segment on DZXL News and runs the YouTube podcast ''Batas with Atty. Claire Castro''.

Undersecretary and Press Officer

On February 24, 2025, Castro was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and Press Officer of

, immediately assuming the position. She took her oath of office before President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

along with the newly-appointed PCO Chief

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

Jay Ruiz Jaybee C. Ruiz (born April 1974) is a Filipino broadcaster, journalist, and artist who has been serving as the Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) since February 24, 2025, succeeding acting secretary Cesar Chavez. Ruiz is ...

Arrest

On September 22, 2015, police filed multiple charges of slander by deed, direct assault, and obstruction of justice against Castro, her partner Charlton Seechung, and her secretary. Castro was described by some reports as having turned "hysterical" after speaking with police officers when the three went to the Manila police department's Women's and Children's Desk to protest the warrantless apprehension of one of Castro's clients, seeking his immediate release. The four were released the next day. Castro said she would file complaints against the policemen involved. In December 2017, the

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

dismissed the nine police officers Castro filed complaints against after finding them guilty of grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross neglect of duty, maltreatment of detainees, unlawful arrest, unjust vexation, slander by deed, sleeping on duty,

arbitrary detention Arbitrary arrest and detention is the arrest and detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law or order. ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

, serious illegal detention and robbery extortion.

References

External links

''Batas with Atty. Claire Castro'' on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Claire, lawyer Living people Filipino women lawyers 21st-century Filipino lawyers Filipino podcasters Filipino YouTubers Filipino television talk show hosts Filipino radio personalities ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs people Year of birth missing (living people) Filipino media personalities University of Santo Tomas alumni