(Law LLM, 2016)
We must do our share in decolonizing the field of human rights, the perception that “professional” expertise comes from the West and North who are there to help the victims from the East and South.
Could you tell us about your journey to Queen Mary? Why did you choose to study Human Rights Law?
I have always been passionate about human rights promotion and protection. In 2015, I was working as Executive Director of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, my country’s national human rights institution, when I received an offer to study for an LLM at Queen Mary with a Chevening scholarship. I had chosen Queen Mary due to its reputation as a community- and people-oriented university located in the immigrant melting pot that is East London. Plus a few friends in the Philippines, including one of the Human Rights commissioners I was working with, obtained their LLMs from Queen Mary and had such high regard for it.
What aspects of your degree did you enjoy and what were your most memorable moments at university?
I really enjoyed taking the Tube and buses to attend lectures in different parts of London. Afterwards, we would go to our favourite pubs (the Weatherspoon “Shakespeare’s Head” in Holborn, “The Victoria” near the Mile End campus, or the basement bar at SOAS) to socialize. I joined the Catholic Chaplaincy in Mile End and became a parishioner at St. Anselm & St. Cecilia, just beside the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, with its marvellous Gregorian music. I had lots of fun, even as a graduate student, during my Chevening year in London, and it had to do with the social interaction, inside the classroom and outside. Being part of a big community like Queen Mary, and a much bigger network in the University of London made that possible. One other part that I really enjoyed was the observation visits to courts (anti-terrorism, migration, the Supreme Court) and lectures by visiting UN Special Rapporteurs, the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, politicians, civil society activists and an investigative journalist, which were all very nicely complemented the academic side of the program. And of course, the LLM induction program at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor was a truly unforgettable experience.
My biggest influence has been my former boss at the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, Loretta Ann Rosales, who was herself a victim of grave human rights abuses under the Marcos dictatorship in the 70s, but who also showed me how to channel hate and other negative energies coming from injustice and violence, into something positive. And of course, my own mother, Ofelia, who is a community leader in her own right and proof that human rights do begin at home.
What are you doing now and how is your degree/time at Queen Mary relevant to this job?
Since 2016 I have been working as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations, based in Geneva. I got this job in part through Queen Mary. With funds provided by the school, our class went on an exposure trip to international organizations (IO) in Geneva. In the middle of it, I saw a vacancy for a short-term assignment on human rights indicators and data. I applied for and got the job while waiting for the degree.
I was once tasked to develop a methodological framework for collecting and reporting data on killings, enforced disappearances and other attacks against human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists. In 2017, member States adopted the methodology and guidance note that I had helped develop. And using this approach, the UN Special Rapporteur last year reported that killings of human rights defenders have been observed in 1/3 of member States since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015.
What made you choose the field you’re working in right now? What opportunities did you see?
I would not say that I chose this field, rather that I have already been working within this field and a Queen Mary LLM gave me the right career boost at the right time. It is not just the degree but the global, practical, and grounded perspective on human rights issues that matter the most.
Who has been your biggest influence and why?
I can think of three people. There is Archbishop Oscar Romero whose life work basically established that living the Gospel means working for human rights for all. My former boss at the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, Loretta Ann Rosales, who was herself a victim of grave human rights abuses under the Marcos dictatorship in the 70s, also showed me how to channel hate and other negative energies coming from injustice and violence, into something positive. She always reminds me that human rights are a dialectical process and should never be a career or purely academic pursuit. And of course, my own mother, Ofelia, who is a community leader in her own right and proof that human rights do begin at home.
In your career to date, what achievements are you most proud of?
At work, I found myself in the middle of a dynamic process to advance human rights using the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I was tasked to develop a methodological framework for collecting and reporting data on killings, enforced disappearances and other attacks against human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists. In 2017, member States adopted the methodology and guidance note that I had helped develop. And using this approach, the UN Special Rapporteur last year reported that killings of human rights defenders have been observed in 1/3 of member States since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, and the Secretary-General has repeatedly called attention to the fact that every day there is at least one activist, reporter or trade unionist being killed simply for their job. The methodology is far from perfect but at least it has concretized the UN’s commitment to upholding civic space and fundamental freedoms and is being used to help countries do better on their human rights commitments.
What are the open questions you would like to see addressed in your field?
The biggest question in the field of human rights has always been, “how?”. How do we implement international legal obligations on human rights? How do we hold accountable those who fail to do so? How do we distinguish between inability and unwillingness to fulfil or abide by human rights? As part of a small but growing team of human rights indicators and data specialists in the UN, I am optimistic that somehow these questions can be answered more empirically through the tools and information we produce.
What advice do you have for students interested in pursuing careers in Human Rights Law?
My advice is to stop looking at Human Rights Law as a career first and foremost. It is a vocation. Otherwise, one would lose sight so easily of the fact that “doing” human rights work is such a privileged position relative to the victims. In most cases, one’s presence, voice and talents are required because another one’s presence, voice and talents have been trampled upon, denied or silenced. If one forgets this principle on the way up the career ladder then a bureaucratic mindset sets in, or worse a messianic complex. We must also do our share in decolonizing the field of human rights, the perception that “professional” expertise comes from the West and North who are there to help the victims from the East and South. When these fundamental principles are there, looking for a job is easier in the sense that virtually any position that one occupies becomes a medium or platform for promoting and protecting human rights.
If you would like to get in touch with Marc or engage him in your work, please contact the Alumni Engagement team at alumni@qmul.ac.uk.