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 Photo: wikimedia.org
Haydee Yorac a distinguished public servant, was born on March 4, 1941 in Saravia, Negros Occidental. A 1962 graduate of the University of the Philippines with a Bachelors degree in Law. She pursued her Master of Arts degree majoring in Public International Law, minor in Anthropology from Yale University in New Haven, USA in 1981.
During the early part of her career, she taught 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 of the University of the Philippines Law Center.
In 1986, then President Corazon Aquino appointed her as the Commissioner of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC). She was a driven and very passionate public servant in constant pursuit of endeavors that will ensure democracy and protect the constitutional freedom of the Filipino people. A political prisoner during the martial law years, she was known for being outspoken and incorruptible. Yorac's time with the COMELEC was considered by many as the Commission's golden age.
She also served in the National Unification Commission during the term of former President Fidel Ramos. She fearlessly faced the issues of insurgency and rebellion in the country and exerted great effort in meeting with numerous armed groups with the hope of reaching a common ground to curb violence.
In 2001, Yorac was named as the Chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. It was through her unwavering efforts that PCGG was able to recover $683 million of the Marcoses ill-gotten wealth hidden in Swiss banks. She received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for Government Service in 2004. During the awarding ceremony, the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation recognized her “building confidence in government through service of exceptional integrity and rigor and her unwavering pursuit of the rule of law in the Philippines.”
In her acceptance speech of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Yorac said,"Our values and personal convictions dictate the direction that we take and the stand that we make on moral issues that affect our work, in particular, and the country, in general. The desire to make government more effective and efficient in its mandate of good governance is of paramount importance. It is the driving force that compels many of us to accept responsibilities in government, despite the odds."
She was an accomplished writer. Her notable publications were "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, Philippine Treaty Series, Vols. 1-4, 6-7 (editor).
Haydee Yorac ran for a seat in the Senate in 1998 and lost.
She won great battles for the country but despite her courage, she finally lost her personal battle with cancer on September 13, 2005 in Chicago Illinois at the age of 64. Haydee Yorac was an outstanding individual and public servant. The epitome of a Great pinoy.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haydee_Yorac
http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=389
http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/ht/ht005454.htm
http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationYoracHay.htm
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