Haydee Yorac

Yorac battled with breast cancer and died on September 12, 2005, in Chicago, aged 64. Her remains were buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. She was succeeded as PCGG chair by Camilo Sabio.

Yorac vied for a seat in the Philippine Senate in the 1998 national elections through the Reporma–LM party of Renato de Villa but lost.

She was also a key figure in the new government's peace process, having served as chairperson of the National Unification Council a predecessor of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which was created on the council's recommendation in July 1993.

She was appointed by then President Corazon Aquino to serve as commissioner of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in 1986.

When Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972, he arrested various lawyers, academics, and intellectuals who were likely to lead protests against the move. Yorac was among the first to be arrested, and was imprisoned in Camp Crame for three months. Upon her release, Yorac volunteered her services to the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), notably helping Lino Brocka and Behn Cervantes when they were charged with inciting to sedition in 1984.

Haydee Bofill Yorac (/ˈhaɪdi/; Spanish pronunciation: [ajˈde.e] March 4, 1941 — September 12, 2005) was a Filipina public servant, law professor and politician.

Yorac was born on March 4, 1941, in the municipality of Saravia (now E. B. Magalona), Negros Occidental. She earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1962. She placed 8th in the 1962 Philippine Bar Examinations, with an 86.95% rating. She was a member of Purple Feather (Law Honor Society) while a student of law. She also earned a Master of Laws major in public international law, minor in anthropology from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1981.