CHR welcomes new commissioner
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomed the decision of President Marcos to appoint retired trial court judge Maria Amifaith S. Fider-Reyes as its new commissioner.
“The Commission is confident that Commissioner Fider-Reyes’ leadership will further energize CHR’s efforts in crafting policies, advocating for rights, and instituting preventive measures to address human rights challenges in the Philippines,” said the CHR in a statement.
With Commissioner Reyes' appointment, the five-member CHR board is now complete.
The other members of the 6th CHR board are Chairperson Richard P. Palpal-latoc and Commissioners Beda A. Epres, Faydah Maniri Dumarpa, and Monina Arevalo Zenarosa.
Their term of office ends in 2029.
The CHR cited that Reyes served in the judiciary for 17 years before retiring in December 2023.
“Her rich legal and judicial experience equips her to be an invaluable asset to the Commission,” it said.
“Her multidisciplinary expertise and unwavering dedication to justice will undoubtedly strengthen CHR’s initiatives to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalized sectors,” it added.
The CHR noted that Reyes had served as presiding judge of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 42 in San Fernando City, Pampanga, Branch 42.
She also served for 12 years concurrently as acting judge for other courts in the National Capital Judicial Region including those in Makati, Las Piñas, Quezon City, and Manila, it said.
It also cited that Commissioner Reyes, who earned her master of laws at the University of Haifa in Israel, is a Chevening Scholar who specialized in the International Rights of the Child at the University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield Colleges and a visiting scholar at the International Legal Institute in Washington, D.C., the United States.