Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Quick Facts
Biography
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is a development consultant and an international indigenous activist of Igorot ethnicity. On 2 June 2014 on, she assumed responsibilities as the third UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She is the first recipient of the Gabriela Silang Award, which was conferred in 2009 by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. She was the former Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010).
Background
She graduated from the Philippine Science High School in Diliman, Quezon City in 1969. She completed her nursing degree at the UP College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila in 1976. As an activist, she helped organize indigenous peoples in the community level to fight against the projects of then President Ferdinand Marcos. They succeeded in stopping the Chico River Hydroelectric Dam and the Cellophil Resources Corporation.