The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomed the appointment of Commissioner Leah C. Tanodra Armamento as its new chairperson.
Chairperson Armamento succeeds the late Chairperson Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon who passed away in October 2021. Armamento will serve Garcon’s unexpired term until May 2022.
Before her appointment to the CHR, Armamento worked for five years with the Office of the Solicitor General as an associate solicitor. She then transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) where she served as state prosecutor and later as senior state prosecutor from 1991 to 2003.
She was later promoted as DOJ assistant chief state prosecutor and chaired the legal panel of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) during the 1996 Review of the Final Peace Agreement’s implementation between GPH and Moro National Liberation Front (MILF). Thereafter, she was appointed as DOJ undersecretary.
She finished law at the Ateneo De Manila University School of Law. She was also a fellow of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2007.
The appointments of Commissioners Karen Gomez-Dumpit, Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana, and Roberto Eugenio Cadiz will all expire on May 5, 2022.
Under Executive Order No. 163, the chairman and members of the CHR will be appointed by the President for a term of seven years without reappointment. Appointment to any vacancy will only be for the unexpired term of the predecessor.