Algamar A. Latiph is a Filipino lawyer who is the chief legislative officer of Senator Robin Padilla since 2022. Throughout his legal career, he has advocated for the rights of Moro people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the Philippines.
Latiph passed the Philippine bar exam in 2000. [1] In 2007, he completed a three-month Chevening Fellowships for Islam and Governance at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. [2]
In the 2000s, Latiph chaired the Muslim Youth and Students Alliance in Manila. [3]
Latiph chaired the Regional Human Rights Commission (RHRC) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the 2010s, with the organization conducting an investigation with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) into the ill-fated police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in 2015. [4] In 2016, he petitioned for the Supreme Court to deny the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, arguing that many Moros suffered under his dictatorship. [5] Latiph also served in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that drafted the 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). [6]
In July 2020, Latiph and three other Muslim lawyers filed the 16th petition (out of 37) before the Supreme Court that challenged the legality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. [7] During his oral argument in February 2021, Latiph asked the court to decide on the petitions "in the name of liberty and love". [8]
Upon Muslim actor Robin Padilla's election to the Senate in 2022, Latiph was hired as his chief legislative officer. [9] During his tenure, Latiph assisted in the creation of a Senate bill that sought to strengthen the powers of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) in classifying media. [10]
Latiph is married to fellow lawyer Maisara Dandamun-Latiph from Manila, who advocates for better education as well as women and children's rights; they have two children. [11] [2]
[...] LASOLA, Jeffrey Nicandro S.; LATIPH, Algamar A.; LAUREA, Pearl Angelie T.;[...]
Apart from Iqra [Kiddie Learning], my daughter [Azeeza] and husband [Algamar Latiph] gave me the inspiration to prod on and to pursue my masters. I believe in the power of education to [lift our] people out of poverty and ignorance.
For his part, CHR Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Director Algamar Latiph said the Moros suffered so much during the Marcos years, highlighted by an insurgency that Duterte wants to end under his leadership.[...] The lawyer turned emotional while presenting his arguments, saying a relative was a victim of the dictatorship.
Sa pamumuno ni Atty Algamar Latiph at Committee Secretary Mam Bernadine Mahinay
She [Maisara Dandamun Latiph] is married to a fellow lawyer and human rights advocate – Attorney Algamar Latiph.