Participant Profiles

High-Level Roundtable on the State of Democracy in ASEAN Manila, Philippines – 18 September 2017 Hosted by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)

Charles Santiago, APHR Chairperson and Member of the Parliament of Malaysia

Charles Santiago is a member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Klang constituency in Selangor. He is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition. Santiago was first elected to Parliament in 2008, winning the seat of Klang from the governing Barisan Nasional coalition. Prior to his election, Santiago was an economist and worked for non-governmental organizations such as the Coalition Against Water Privatisation and Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation Malaysia.

Mu Sochua, APHR Board Member and Member of the National Assembly of Cambodia

Mu Sochua is a member of the National Assembly of Cambodia, representing Battambang, and Vice President of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). She has been in Parliament since 2008 and previously served as Cambodia’s Minister of Women’s Affairs from 1998 to 2004. In addition to her work in government, she has spent decades as a human rights advocate, particularly for marginalized groups including migrants, workers, and women. She helped draft and pass Cambodia’s Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill, and has also worked on campaigns to end the spread of HIV/AIDS, support female entrepreneurs, and develop communities for squatters.

Kasit Piromya, APHR Member and former Foreign Minister of Thailand

Kasit Piromya is a former foreign minister of Thailand (2008-2011). He served as Ambassador of Thailand to the Soviet Union, Indonesia, Germany, Japan, and the United States. He was a member of parliament from the Democrat Party from 2011 to 2013. He is currently a member of Policy Committee in Democrat Party. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and held several head positions, including: Director of the Commerce and Industry Division of ASEAN Department; Director of Policy and Planning Division, and Deputy Director for General, Economic Affairs Department. He was posted abroad as the Ambassador respectively to Moscow; Jakarta; Bonn/Berlin; Tokyo and Washington D.C (1990-2005); and he was the Second Secretary of the Royal Thai Embassy in Brussels and Thai Mission to the European Union (1975-1979). He was the lecturer on Economic Diplomacy in Chulalongkorn University and he was the Thailand Representative in The Caux Round Table in the United States as the NGO promoting good governance and CSR.

Teodoro “Teddy” Baguilat, Jr., APHR Board Member and Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Teodoro Baguilat, Jr. is a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, serving his third term as elected representative of the Lone District of Ifugao Province. He is a long-time member of the Liberal Party and has also served as a municipal mayor and governor of Ifugao, Cordillera Administrative Region. In Congress, he is a strong advocate for human rights, particularly indigenous people’s rights, and is currently working to oppose efforts to reintroduce the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines. He has authored numerous bills on the environment, human rights, and indigenous peoples.

Tom Villarin, APHR Member and Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Tom Villarin is a member of the House of Representatives from the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party. He is a devoted social development worker and an activist from Mindanao, Philippines. Tom is recognized as a versatile and all-round social advocate. Tom integrated with different sectors and developed expertise on various issues ranging from agrarian reform, trade unionism, local governance up to issues of security and peace. He served as the Executive Director and Corporate Secretary of the Sustainable Integrated Area Development (SIAD) Initiatives in Mindanao-Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development (SIM CARDD), a regional network and resource institution that helps facilitate the empowerment and development of local communities in Mindanao (southern Philippines) through agrarian, peace-building programs and other asset reforms.

Son Chhay, APHR Member and Member of the National Assembly of Cambodia

Son Chhay is a member of the Cambodian National Assembly of Cambodia and he is a chief whip of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Son Chhay has been elected to Parliament since 1993, first representing his birth province of Siem Reap and then from 2003, representing Phnom Penh in the National Assembly of Cambodia. Son Chhay is well respected for his tireless effort to fight against corruption and, promoting liberal democracy and human rights. On 14 June 2010, he was awarded the Order of Australia award for his services to Cambodia and the Cambodian-Australian community in Australia.

Tian Chua, APHR Member and Member of the Parliament of Malaysia

Tian Chua is a Member of the Parliament of Malaysia, representing the Batu constituency in Kuala Lumpur since 2008. He, currently serves as Vice President of the People’s Justice Party (PKR). He has been involved with human rights and labour rights issues concerns since 1990 and has participated in numerous. Active in activities concerned with human rights, labour movement, and migrant issues. Graduated with a BA degree in Philosophy from University of New South Wales (Australia), and a MA degree in Employment & Labour Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.

Walden Bello, APHR Board Member and former Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Walden Bello served as a congressman in the Philippine House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015. While in the House he was chairman of the Committee for Overseas Workers' Affairs (COWA). He is currently the International Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton and was professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines from 1994 to 2009 when he retired to join Congress. He obtained his PhD in sociology from Princeton University in 1975. He is the author of several works on authoritarianism, including "Rodrigo Duterte: A Fascist Original" in Nicole Curato, ed., The Duterte Reader (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2017) and "Counterrevolution, the Countryside, and the Middle Classes," in the Journal of Peasant Studies (forthcoming, 2018).

Ana Theresia "Risa" Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel, APHR Member and Member of the Senate of the Philippines

Ana Theresia "Risa" Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel is a Filipino socialist activist, politician, and journalist who was a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 2004 to 2010 and is currently serving as a Senator since 2016. She was also a television journalist and news anchor, having worked for two television networks in the country, IBC (Headline Trese) and GMA Network (GMA Network News). In Risa’s career as an activist, she has been affiliated with a number of organizations and movements: Akbayan Party List, Coalition for Peace National Peace Conference, Government Panel for Peace Talks with the National Democratic Front, Pandayan para sa Sosyalistang Pilipinas (Pandayan/Forge for a Socialist Philippines), Pilipina, Amnesty International Pilipinas, Institute for Politics and Governance.

Neena Gill, Member of the European Parliament

Neena Gill is a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands a socialist and a democrat. In 1999, she was elected as the first female Asian MEP in the European Parliament. Representing the West Midlands. Among her concurrent positions, she is currently the First Vice President for the Delegation for relations with India and a Substitute for the Delegation for Relation with ASEAN. Neena sat on the Budget, Legal, Transport, Energy and Industry Research Committees in the European Parliament. Since 2009, she was an MD for Public Affairs and from 2010 she worked for SAS Software, as Vice President Corporate Affairs (Europe and Asia Pacific). Neena was awarded her first degree by Liverpool John Moores University (BA Hons Social Studies) in 1979, and she completed a postgraduate professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Housing in 1986 and the London Business School SEP in 1996. She is fluent in several Asian languages and Italian, and has recently learned French and German.

Dr. Noer Hassan Wirajuda, former Foreign Minister of Indonesia and member of the Indonesian Council of Presidential Advisors

Dr. Noer Hassan Wirajuda was the Foreign Minister of Indonesia and member of the Indonesian Council of Presidential Advisors. A career diplomat, he was Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the U.N. in Geneva and Director General of Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. He facilitated the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Liberation Front leading to the signing of the Manila Peace Agreement in September 1996. He was the Chief Negotiator of the Government of Indonesia in dialogue with the Free Aceh Movement (First Phase, 1999-2000). He is a proponent of a balanced concept of community building in ASEAN and East Asia. He was the initiator and architect of the establishment of the National Commission on Human Rights and advocated the establishment of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights. He initiated the establishment of the Bali Democracy Forum in 2008 and its implementing agency, the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), in which he is sitting as Patron. He co-founded and is currently Professor of School of Government and Public Policy (SGPP-Indonesia).

Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines

Jose Luis Martin Gascon is the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines. He is a political activist and social reformer who has been working on human rights, democracy, and governance concerns for over three decades. He served as the youngest member to both the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution and the 8th Philippine Congress. He has held several senior positions in the Philippine government, such as separate stints as Undersecretary at the Department of Education and the Office of the President for Political Affairs. He was also a Board Member of the Bases Conversion Development Authority and had most recently served as member of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board. He holds Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of the Philippines, and a Master of Law (LLM) degree specializing in International Law (Human Rights, Law of Peace, and Settlement of International Disputes) from Cambridge University as a member of St. Edmund's College through a joint British Chevening and Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholarship.

Rafendi Djamin, Advisor, Human Rights Working Group and former Commissioner, ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights

Mr. Rafendi Djamin is a specialist on human rights and democracy from Indonesia. He is former Regional Director for South East Asia and Pacific of Amnesty International and former Executive Director of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), a permanent coalition of Indonesian NGO’s for International Human Rights Advocacy based in Jakarta. He is a member of the Advisory Board of ASEAN CSR Network, and member of the Advisory Group of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT). He served as the first Indonesian Representative for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) from 2009-2015. Since 1992, Mr. Djamin has been working on lobbying and advocacy on human rights, democracy and humanitarian issues in Indonesia to both inter-governmental bodies and UN human rights mechanisms.

Maria Chin Binti Abdullah, Chairperson, BERSIH 2.0

Maria Chin Abdullah is the Chair of BERSIH 2.0 (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) in Malaysia. She has more than 30 years of experience in policy- orientated advocacy, a trainer and human and women rights activist. She is keen in capacity building on rights-based approach and in particular political representation of women in decision making levels. She has trained more than 400 women within two years. Five women stood for the General Elections 2013 and won seats at state (3) and parliament (2). She has helped empowered young activists in Malaysia through BERSIH Boot Camps to strengthen awareness on democracy, governance and reforming electoral system. Maria has written on violence against women, political participation, democratic governance and electoral reforms. Her experience in consultancy and analytical research has brought her to work with UNIFEM, Bangkok to mainstreaming rights-based approaches to domestic violence laws and policies in Cambodia, Thailand, and Mongolia. She has won the Malaysian Civil Society Award and was recognized by Amnesty International as a woman human rights defender in the Southeast Asia region. A laureate for the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights which was awarded to BERSIH 2.0.

Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director, Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and Associate Professor of International Political Economy at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak is Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and Associate Professor of International Political Economy at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University. He has authored a wide range of articles, books and book chapters on Thailand’s politics, political economy, and foreign policy, as well as ASEAN and East Asian geopolitics and geo-economics. Dr. Thitinan’s work experience includes The BBC World Service, The Economist Intelligence Unit and many consulting projects related to ASEAN, mainland Southeast Asia, and Thailand’s macro-economy and politics. His work on the political economy of the 1997 Thai economic crisis was awarded the United Kingdom’s Lord Bryce Prize for Best Dissertation in Comparative and International Politics. Dr. Thitinan has held visiting positions at Victoria University in New Zealand, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Stanford University in the United States, Yangon University in Myanmar, and Tubingen University in Germany, having lectured at many local and overseas universities. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Southeast Asia, South East Asia Research, Asian Politics & Policy, and Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs. In June 2015, he received an award for excellence in opinion writing from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA).

Nitchakan Hongkarnjanapong, Documentation Officer, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights

Nitchakan Hongkarnjanapong is a documentation officer at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). She works to advocate on national and international levels in areas including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and enforced disappearance, and restriction of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly under the current military government's administration. Prior to her current position, Nitchakan was a political science student and worked for non- governmental organizations such as Amnesty International Thailand in Bangkok and Japan Association for Refugees in Tokyo.

Dr. I Ketut Putra Erawan, Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD)

Since 2008, I Ketut Putra Erawan has been the Executive Director of Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), Bali, Indonesia. Before, I Ketut Putra Erawan was the Director of Master and Doctoral programs in Political Science, lecturer at the Master program of Human Rights and Democracy, as well as Master program of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Gadjah Mada University. He also served as expert for the Indonesian Government in developing package of Political Laws for the 2009 Election and as Special Advisor for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia in democratic promotion. He earned Doctoral degree in Political Science from Northern Illinois University, United States (2003), Master degree in Political Science from the Ohio State University, United States (1995) and a B.A. in Government Science from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia (1989).

Karel Jiaan Antonio Galang, Program Officer, Asian Network for Free Elections

Karel Jiaan Antonio Galang is Program Officer for Campaign and Advocacy for the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), representing the organization in its advocacy engagements all over Asia. He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines in Manila with a degree in Political Science. During his undergraduate years, he worked for the official student publication as a writer covering issues on human rights and culture. His passion for democracy work began when he became an intern of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), the first citizens-led election monitoring organization in the world. After graduating, he worked as a writer and researcher for NAMFREL for two years and participated in good governance projects of the organization such as government procurement monitoring, specifically on the procurement of the Philippines’ Automated Election System.

Prof. Edna E.A. Co, Director, Centre International de Formation des Acteurs Locaux (CIFAL)- Philippines and Professor at UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG)

Dr. Edna E.A. Co is the Director of CIFAL Philippines, a training and research center affiliated with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). She is a full professor of Public Administration at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), while acting as a consultant to government agencies on regulatory governance and currently works with the Philippine Senate on the amendment of the Local Government Code 1991. She is a member of the Advisory Council to the Philippine Civil Service Commission; a council member of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL); and a member of the board of trustees of the national award-giving body on best practices in local governance, Galing Pook Foundation. She has written or co- authored papers and books on democratization and democracy assessment, citizenship and governance, and policy reforms. She served as Vice President for Public Affairs and Executive Director of the Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) of the University of the Philippines. In past, she served as consultant to various international development organizations. She was a visiting lecturer at the City University of Hong Kong and at the Meiji University.

Celito Arlegue, Executive Director, Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats

Celito Arlegue is the Executive Director of Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), where he also previously served as Program Officer. In between his stints in CALD, he also taught political science, social science, and economics courses in a number of schools in the Philippines such as the University of the Philippines, the University of Asia & the Pacific, San Beda College and De la Salle University. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the International Studies Department of Miriam College and Consular and Diplomatic Affairs Programme of De la Salle - College of St. Benilde. He obtained his bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Nicholas Booth, Programme Adviser for Governance, Conflict Prevention, Access to Justice and Human Rights, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub

Nicholas Booth joined the Governance and Peacebuilding team at UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub in 2013, where he advises on peacebuilding, rule of law, access and justice and human rights dimensions of UNDP’s regional programming as well as supporting UNDP country offices throughout Asia and the Pacific. From 2008 to 2012 he was Policy Adviser for Rule of Law and Access to Justice at UNDP Viet Nam, and prior to that he served with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Kosovo from 2001-2007 as Senior Adviser on Police and Justice. Before joining the UN in 2001, Mr. Booth had 12 years of experience as a legal practitioner in the United Kingdom and the United States, specializing in labor rights and discrimination (focusing on race, gender, disability, and HIV and AIDS). During his years in private practice he was an active pro bono lawyer working with the Terrence Higgins Trust (the UK’s largest NGO for people living with HIV), the Free Representation Unit and the Employment Law Appeals Advisory Scheme among others. Mr. Booth holds a BCL in Law from Brasenose College, Oxford and an MA (Hons) in Law from Queens’ College, Cambridge.

Christine “Tina” Ebro, Focal Person in Asia, Asia-Europe Peoples' Forum (AEPF)

Tina serves as the Focal Person in Asia of the Asia of the Asia-Europe Peoples' Forum (AEPF). A broad network of social movements and NGOs, which advances alternatives on social, economic and climate justice, peace and security, democratization and human rights, AEPF holds as well civil society summits just before the biennial ASEM summits. Tina is in the mainly an educator, and in the 1970s she worked as a university lecturer and human rights trainer. Under the Marcos dictatorship, she was director of a labour education center that provided trade union courses to cadres of militant and autonomous workers federations. In Europe in the nineties, she coordinated an ecumenical program, Participating Refugees in Europe, that conducted training for refugee and migrant leaders who were campaigning for humane asylum policies. Since 2005, with Bread for the World and the Institute for Popular Democracy, she convened capability-building projects on left renewal and participatory democracy, and on universal and transformative social protection for a life of dignity for all in Asia.