Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is a
Filipino peace negotiator who was the chair of the
peace panel of the
government of the Philippines
The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is Central government, governed as a unitary state under a presidential system, presidential representativ ...
during the time of President
Simeon Benigno Aquino III (2010–2016). On behalf of the government, Coronel-Ferrer signed the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ) is an Islamist group based in Mindanao, Philippines, which sought an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro region of Mindanao, t ...
. She is the first female chief negotiator in the world to sign a final peace accord with a rebel group.
She is also a political science professor at the
University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...
(UP).
Early life and education
Coronel-Ferrer graduated cum laude from UP Diliman with a degree in philosophy in 1980. She also possesses a master's degree in Southeast Asian studies from the
University of Kent
The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
at Canterbury.
Career
In the early 2000s, she served as the director of the UP Third World Studies Center and was a convenor of the Program on Peace, Democratization, and Human Rights of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies until 2005.

Before joining the government peace panel, Coronel-Ferrer was already involved in a number of campaigns. She was founding co-chair of the Non-State Actors Working Group of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights res ...
, and served in this capacity from 1999–2004. In 2005, she joined 26 other Filipinas nominated among the "1,000 Women for the Nobel" peace prize in 2005. She co-led the civil society-initiated drafting of the National Action Plan (NAP) on
UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The Philippine NAP was formally adopted by the government in March 2010.
Appointed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to the Government Negotiating Panel in July 2010, she was assigned to her post as Panel Chair on 7 December 2012, replacing Associate Justice
Marvic Leonen
Mario Victor "Marvic" Famorca Leonen (born December 29, 1962) is a Filipino jurist who has served as an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines since 2012. President Benigno Aquino III appointed Leonen to the position at the ...
.
As the chair of the government panel, Prof. Ferrer oversaw the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Other activities
*
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...
(ICG), board of trustees (since 2022)
Publications and awards
Prof. Ferrer has published several books and journal articles on Philippine democratization, civil society, human rights and peace processes, and served as visiting professor in
Hankuk University in Seoul,
Hiroshima University in Japan, and
Gadjah Mada University
Gadjah Mada University (; , abbreviated as UGM) is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on 19 December 1949, Gadjah Mada University is one of the oldest and largest institut ...
in Yogjakarta, Indonesia.
Awards received by Coronel-Ferrer include the 2015 Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security, the 2015 Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Fr. William F Masterson SJ Award, the 2014 United Nations Development Program N-Peace Award for Campaigning for Action, and the 2011 Philippine Science High School Alumni Association Gawad Lagabalab for Outstanding Alumni.
She received the
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...
in 2023.
Mamasapano
In the aftermath of the
Mamasapano clash
The Mamasapano clash was a shootout that took place during a police operation by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 25, 2015, in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, then-undivided Maguindanao (which is now ...
, a police operation that successfully killed Malaysian terrorist
Zulkifli Abdhir alias Marwan, but led to the killing of 44 police commandos by Moro rebels, Coronel-Ferrer was involved in a tense exchange with Senator
Alan Peter Cayetano
Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano ( Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino lawyer, diplomat, and politician serving as a senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 2 ...
. Coronel-Ferrer argued that "The government policy is to negotiate with the armed groups that are fighting the government." The Senator responded by saying, "All governments around the world, the policy is not to negotiate with terrorists. If the peace panel does not know that, we’re in trouble." To which Coronel-Ferrer replied that she was "not aware of any such policy."
Coronel-Ferrer's calls for calm in the wake of the clash have drawn criticism from many Filipino netizens. Many have accused her of treason and of rushing the peace process, at the expense of justice. She received death threats and manipulated, sexually explicit images of her spread across the Internet. However, Coronel-Ferrer says she accepts them as "part of the job".
References
External links
Coronel-Ferrer's faculty profile at the UP Diliman, Department of Political Science websiteCoronel-Ferrer's bio at The Institute for Inclusive Security
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coronel-Ferrer, Miriam
Filipino educators
21st-century Filipino women educators
21st-century Filipino educators
Filipino political scientists
University of the Philippines Diliman alumni
University of the Philippines people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Benigno Aquino III administration personnel
1961 births
People from Quezon City