WeDpro, Inc. A feminist collective working for women’s empowerment

Expertise: Human Rights, Gender, Children’s Rights, Family Law

Damcelle Torres-Cortes is a program officer in the Manila office of an international non-governmental organization. In this capacity, she assisted in the management of a large legal reform project that institutionalized court-annexed mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Currently, she works with a team implementing strategic interventions to curb extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances in the Philippines, through programs funded by the USAID, AusAID, and other international development agencies.

At a young age, Damcelle was already actively involved in promoting women’s rights. In high school, she organized fellow girl teen-agers from public schools to form the Young Women as Voices of Empowerment in Science (YWAVES). With the Department of Science and Technology, YWAVES led activities to encourage more women students to pursue careers in science and technology. As a student, Damcelle continued to lead various socio-civic activities. She served as the Chairperson of the Sangguniang Kabataan in her community in Los Baños, Laguna. She also held leadership posts in student organizations in the Ateneo de Manila University and later, in the University of the Philippines College of Law. It was during her law studies that she served as the Commissioner representing the youth sector in the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (now Philippine Commission on Women).

Prior to her developmental legal work, Damcelle engaged in intellectual property and litigation practice with the law office of Poblador, Bautista & Reyes. She thereafter served as Legislative Officer in the Office of the Senate Majority Leader and worked on key legislative measures such as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, the Automated Election Law, and the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act. Damcelle is also founding partner of the Javier Santiago Torres & Gorriceta, a full-service law firm based in Ortigas. For two years, Damcelle hosted a weekly radio program popularizing laws on women and children. She continues to serve as resource person on violence against women, sexual harassment, juvenile justice, and the barangay justice system in various seminars and fora.

Damcelle co-authored two books on gender jurisprudence: Engendering the Philippine Judiciary (University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, 2006); and The Davide Court and Its Contributions to Gender and Jurisprudence (University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, 2006). She’s a contributor in the publication The Shari’a Courts in the Philippines: Women, Men and Muslim Personal Laws (Pilipina Legal Resource Center, 2003) and co-wrote the article “Court-Annexed Mediation, Summing Up the Past and Charting the Future” published by the National Judicial Institute in A Sourcebook on Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (2008).

Damcelle is a member of the Gender Justice Network, UP Women Lawyers’ Circle, Advocates’ Philippines, Ayala Young Leaders’ Alumni, and International Visitor Program Philippines Alumni Foundation.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Social Science, Ateneo de Manila University (cum laude); Bachelor of Laws, University of the Philippines (Dean’s Lister)