Quick Facts
Biography
Gaston Zavalla Ortigas (January 31, 1931 - August 31, 1990) was a Spanish Filipino businessman, educator, freedom fighter, and agrarian reform and peace advocate best known for his opposition to the Martial Law dicatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, and for his later pursuit of a peace process between the post-dictatorship Philippine Government and various antidictatorship movements that did not give up their arms after Marcos was deposed in February 1986.
He played a key role in the formation of civil society movements for peace, as one of the original convenors of the Coalition for Peace, and was deeply involved in both the National Peace Conference and what would later become the Multi-Sectoral Peace Advocates (MSPA).
In his honor, the Ateneo de Manila University established the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute six months after his death.His name was also inscribed on the Wall of the Remembrance at the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument of Heroes), which honors the martyrs and heroes who fought the dictatorship.