The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomes the appointment of lawyer Faydah Dumarpa as its new commissioner, but the institution still needs two more officials for its leadership to be complete.
In a statement released on Sunday, the CHR said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Dumarpa’s appointment papers last Dec. 28, which was transmitted to the agency last Jan. 5
Dumarpa will serve until 2029 along with CHR chairperson Richard Palpal-latoc and Commissioner Beda Espres, who were appointed by Mr. Marcos last September.
“CHR looks forward to her future contributions in the policy, protection, promotion, and prevention work of the Commission,” it said.
“Similarly, we welcome the gender balance that Commissioner Dumarpa brings to CEB VI (Sixth Commission en banc). Her overall multidisciplinary perspective comes as a great benefit to the ever-flourishing landscape of human rights,” it added.
The Lanao del Sur native served as deputy executive director for administrative and financial service in the National Nutrition Council in 2021. She then became a director for administrative and financial group in the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management in September 2022.
Dumarpa also worked as a political affairs officer in the House of Representatives for nine years. In the Senate, she served as a legislative staff officer in 2012 then had a supervising role in 2013. In the same year, she joined the National Power Corporation as its corporate lawyer.
“Commissioner Dumarpa not only offers her expansive experience in the legal, socio-political, and administrative and finance fields, her Southern and Muslim roots also reflect plurality crucial to the Commission’s highest decision-making body,” the CHR said.
Dumarpa is the daughter of former Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Faysah Racman Dumarpa and Salic Biston Dumarpa, a former commissioner of the National Labor Relations Commission.