- Lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia, executive director of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), said she has never been discriminated on the basis of her gender. However, being a woman has helped her connect better with her female clients and be more empathetic towards their plight.
- Gender equality and female empowerment are not the sole causes of women; men have an equal responsibility to make sure that the fairer sex are treated fairly and accorded the same opportunities to thrive in school, work, and other causes.
- De Guia became the Philippines’ Torture Prevention Ambassador for the Prevention of Torture-Asia Pacific Forum Joint Initiative.
- "My work has exposed me to many women victims whose stories have deeply affected me and continues to give me more reason to fight for their cause," she said.
This quote seems to be the embodiment of the life of lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia, executive director of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), who has chosen, at every point in her career, to uphold social justice and serve her fellow Filipinos.
De Guia’s work can get exhausting, but the simple words of thanks and appreciation from her clients make her job truly rewarding.
"Human rights work may not be as lucrative, but it is the advocacy that I continue to choose every day," she said.
"Napaka-strong ng hatak sa akin ng human rights. Iba talaga yung fulfilment sa trabaho na ‘to. (The pull of human rights is just too strong. The fulfillment I get from this job is just different)," she added.
Throughout her career, De Guia said she has been fortunate because she has never been discriminated on the basis of her gender. However, being a woman has helped De Guia connect better with her female clients and be more empathetic towards their plight.
"My work has exposed me to many women victims whose stories have deeply affected me and continues to give me more reason to fight for their cause," she shared.
She even launched "The T-shirt Project" for abused women so that they are provided with a therapeutic activity and tell their stories through the arts, all the while being educated about their rights.
A collective effort
When we interviewed her in relation to Women’s Month, she emphasized that gender equality and female empowerment are not the sole causes of women and girls. She said men and boys have an equal responsibility to make sure that the fairer sex are treated fairly and accorded the same opportunities to thrive in school, work, and other causes.
"The fight for better conditions for women is not exclusive to women, in the same way that upholding human rights is not the fight of the oppressed and marginalized alone,” she explained. “Making a better society requires collective effort. We should all take part in it.”
A career
AT THE CHR OFFICE. When she became the spokesperson for the CHR, De Guia said that they were asked to respond to issue after issue. 'I had to do my part to protect the integrity of the CHR as the country's independent national human rights institution,' she said.
De Guia said that she encountered many challenges throughout her career with the CHR. She first moved to the Region IV office in San Pablo, Laguna before serving as its head in 2010.
Back then, the CHR only had presence at the regional level, and both staffing and funding were limited. De Guia recalled that she and her team would travel to remote areas using an old Tamaraw FX with broken airconditioning. Sometimes, they would travel by sea or climb mountains just to investigate cases, provide legal remedies to communities, and deliver lectures on human rights.
It was during her stint at the regional office that De Guia led the investigation of the Atimonan checkpoint shooting incident in 2013.
She also headed the investigation on the reported practice of “Wheel of Torture” in a Philippine National Police (PNP) facility where the type of torture was allegedly dictated by a spinning wheel.
With the support of the CHR, De Guia became the Philippines’ Torture Prevention Ambassador for the Prevention of Torture-Asia Pacific Forum Joint Initiative. She used that platform to help abolish torture in jails and improve the wellbeing of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
Iskolar ng Bayan
ON THE JOB. 'I hope to serve the human rights in the many years to come - not only for the rights of the people I love, such as my family, but also those I have met in communities and those similarly situated who deserve to enjoy their rights and have a dignified life,' she said.
De Guia, an Iskolar ng Bayan, earned a degree in Social Sciences with a double major in Psychology and Political Science in 1999 from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Baguio. In 2006, she got her law degree from the University of Cordilleras and promptly passed the Bar in 2007.
She briefly worked in the private sector and taught college students before deciding to work with the CHR in 2008.
In 2016, she was recalled to the Central Office of the CHR to head the Public Affairs and Strategic Communication Office and serve as the CHR's spokesperson. More than the lack of funding and the travel challenges she faced in Region IV, De Guia found her new role more daunting.
"As a private person, being out in public as one of the faces of CHR was far from my personality," she admitted. "The challenge for this position had a different dimension because this was also the time when CHR and the concept of human rights were being challenged heavily."
When she became the spokesperson for the CHR, De Guia said that they were asked to respond to issue after issue. "I had to do my part to protect the integrity of the CHR as the country's independent national human rights institution," she said.
De Guia feels lucky to be working for an agency that aligns with her values. "I hope to serve the human rights in the many years to come - not only for the rights of the people I love, such as my family, but also those I have met in communities and those similarly situated who deserve to enjoy their rights and have a dignified life," she said.