Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 16) – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Wednesday announced the appointment of its new chairperson, former Justice Undersecretary Leah Tanodra-Armamento, who previously served as its commissioner.
Tanodra-Armamento will be serving the unexpired term of CHR’s previous chairman, Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon, who succumbed to COVID-19 last October.
The new CHR head was part of the Fifth Commission en banc and has been in government service for three decades.
Prior to her work at CHR, Tanodra-Armamento was associate solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General for five years, working on cases of unlawful detention.
She transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and eventually became its assistant chief state prosecutor in 2003. She was later named a DOJ undersecretary.
During her stint at DOJ, she created the Task Force on Agrarian Justice and established the guidelines in handling agrarian dispute-related criminal complaints.
She also chaired the legal panel of the government during the 1996 review of the implementation of the final peace agreement between the State and the Moro National Liberation Front.
Tanodra-Armamento earned her law degree from the Ateneo De Manila University School of Law.
She was also a fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2007.
