Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson, Jose Luis Martin 鈥淐hito鈥 C. Gascon, passed away on Oct. 9 from COVID-19, the CHR announced. He was 57.
Gascon was the youngest member of both the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution and the 8th Philippine Congress, in which he was tasked with preparing the draft articles on education in acknowledgement of the fact that the educational system 鈥渄eteriorated significantly during Martial Law.鈥
鈥淚 take pride in having contributed significantly to that article, as well as the rest of the Constitution,鈥 Gascon said.
Among the government posts Gascon held were undersecretary for legal, legislative, and special concerns at the Department of Education from 2002 to 2005, board member of the Bases Conversion Development Authority from 2010 to 2011, and undersecretary for political affairs at the Office of the President from 2011 to 2014.
Before his 2015 appointment as CHR chairperson, Gascon was a member of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board, the body responsible for administering recognition and reparation programs to victims of Martial Law, carrying a rank equivalent to a justice of the Court of Appeals.
In a 2018 article for Time Magazine, Gascon said democracy and human rights are 鈥渋mportant enablers of human development that will create conditions for people to reach their full potential. As long as persons in any part of the world remain deprived of their fundamental rights and freedom, we are all diminished.鈥
According to (of which Gascon was a member), in the wake of Benigno 鈥淣inoy鈥 Aquino Jr.鈥檚 assassination on Aug. 21, 1983, Gascon 鈥渉elped mobilize protest actions in schools demanding justice, human rights, and political change. In 1985, he was elected to chair the UP Student Council and led the youth movement to actively participate in the February 1986 Non-Violent People Power Revolution. He organized the 1st Human Rights Awareness Fair in campuses and was an active member of the Philippine Section of Amnesty International in which he served as a board member for many years.鈥
On Sept. 17, 2017, the CHR became the center of controversy after the House of Representatives voted 119-32 to allocate P1,000 as the commission鈥檚 budget for 2018.
The decision elicited a wave of criticism, and Gascon at what he called 鈥渨himsical and capricious display of vindictiveness.鈥 He vowed to 鈥渆xplore all available remedies,鈥 and continue to pursue the CHR鈥檚 mandate 鈥渢o uphold and defend all the human rights of all.鈥
On Sept. 26, Congress eventually d an additional P507.5 million to the agency鈥檚 budget.
A political activist and social reformer, Gascon earned both his bachelor of arts (BA philosophy) and bachelor of laws degrees from the UP Diliman (黑料专区) before earning a master of law degree specializing in international law from Cambridge University as a member of St. Edmund鈥檚 College through a joint British Chevening and Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholarship.
In a (鈥渁sk me anything鈥 thread), Gascon described himself as a 鈥渉appy warrior鈥 who enjoys NBA2K, the 鈥淎 Song of Ice and Fire鈥 book series, and extremely cheesy 鈥減ichi-pichi.鈥 He leaves behind wife Melissa and daughter Ciara Sophia.
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