Fulgencio Factoran

Fulgencio Santos "Jun" Factoran Jr. (November 3, 1943– April 5, 2020) was a Filipino lawyer, politician,

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

activist, and advocate for

freedom of the press in the Philippines Mass media in the Philippines consists of several types of media: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, and websites. In 2004, the Philippines had 225 television stations, 369 AM radio broadcast stations, 583 FM radio broadcast s ...

. Factoran was a key opponent of the

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

dictatorship. After the restoration of democracy, he served in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines) The secretary of environment and natural resources (Filipino: ''Kalihim ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman'') is the head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines. List References External linksDENR - History

(DENR) from 1987 to 1992. In 2018, Factoran was identified as a Motu Proprio victim of human rights violations during the Martial Law era by the Human Rights Victims Claims Board.

Early life and education
Fulgencio Santos Factoran was born on November 3, 1943 in Orion,
Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...
to Fulgencio Factoran Sr. and Gloria Santos. Factoran received both his
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
and
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degrees from the
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...
, where he was
valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
of his law class. He then completed a Master of Law at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
in the United States. A longtime lawyer, he was the managing partner of Factoran & Associates Law Offices in Manila.

Human rights advocacy during martial law
During
martial law under Ferdinand Marcos At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last ...
, Factoran and other human rights lawyers, including
Jejomar Binay Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay Sr. (born Jesus Jose Cabauatan Binay; November 11, 1942) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 13th vice president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, under President Benigno Aquino III. A hu ...
, formed the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism (MABINI) which opposed President
Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...
' dictatorship.

Government service
In the aftermath of the 1986
People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...
which ousted Marcos, Factoran was appointed as deputy executive secretary to President Corazon Aquino from March 1986 to 1987. He then served as
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines) The secretary of environment and natural resources (Filipino: ''Kalihim ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman'') is the head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines. List References External linksDENR - History
(DENR) in President Aquino's
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
from 1987 until 1992. During his tenure as DENR Secretary, Factoran revoked many of the logging concessions that had been awarded during Marcos' rule. He created new programs to promote
reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...
efforts and reverse the extensive
deforestation in the Philippines Along with other Southeast Asian countries deforestation in the Philippines is a major environmental issue. Over the course of the 20th century, the forest cover of the country dropped from 70 percent down to 20 percent. Based on an analysis of ...
. He also transferred stewardship of forests to local residents and communities. Factoran opened the DENR archives to journalists, including
Marites Vitug Marites Dañguilan Vitug is a Filipina journalist and author who co-founded the news magazine ''Newsbreak''. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 1986 to 1987. Early life and education Marites Dañguilan Vitug was raised by her pare ...
for her 1993 book "Power from the Forest: The Politics of Logging" to expose the abuses of the country's natural resources during the Marcos regime.

Later career
He later served in leadership positions at several government-run corporations, including the
National Electrification Administration The National Electrification Administration (NEA; fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Elektripikasyon) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Energy of the Philippines tasked in the full implementation ...
and the
Philippine National Oil Company The Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) is an energy company created on November 9, 1973, as a government-owned and controlled corporation founded during President Ferdinand Marcos' era to supply oil to the Philippines. Since then, its char ...
. Factoran had served on the
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
for ''
Rappler Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripple") is a Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists ...
'', a major Filipino online news site from 2018 until his death in 2020. He was also a member of the board for the
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is a private, non-stock, non-profit foundation in the Philippines that has focused its endeavor on press freedom protection along with the establishment of a framework of responsibility for ...
.

Death
Jun Factoran died from a longtime illness on April 5, 2020, at the age of 76. He was predeceased by his wife, Kaye Mesina, and survived by their four children, Yazmin, Gertrude Anne, Fulgencio III, and Roberto Carlo.

References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Factoran, Jun 1944 births 2020 deaths Secretaries of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino lawyers Filipino democracy activists Filipino human rights activists University of the Philippines alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Bataan