I am a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Law candidate at the University of Oxford, where I am undertaking research on the legal effects of intrastate peace agreements. My professional interest in peace agreements goes back to my days of working as legal counsel to the government peace panel in talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from 2010-2016, where I was deeply involved in the drafting and negotiation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) – a milestone peace agreement which aims to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao. 

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My legal career in the Philippines was devoted to public service. After working in the Bangsamoro peace process, I worked as a lawyer at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), first serving as Division Chief of the Center for Crisis, Conflict, and Humanitarian Protection and later as the Deputy Coordinator of the National Task Force Against Extrajudicial Killings. I was the founding Head of the CHR’s Analysis Unit. Prior to this, I was an Associate Solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) of the Republic of the Philippines, where my fields of practice include indigenous peoples’ rights law, administrative law, family law, and criminal appeals.