Meet the Weaving Women's Voices Team

Robert Francis Garcia

Project Manager

Robert Francis Garcia (Project Manager) is a human rights and transitional justice champion. He is the author of a number of books, including To Suffer thy Comrades: How the Revolution Decimated Its Own (National Book Awards winner and national bestseller in 2002). The book, updated and relaunched in 2017, continues to be used as a reference material in human rights education programs, academic courses, and legal cases including Supreme Court rulings. He also wrote Of Maps and Leapfrogs: Popular Education and Other Disruptions, and other published materials covering an array of themes including information technology, leadership, humanitarian response, and peacebuilding, among others. His recent work, Disrupting Cycles of Discontent: Transitional Justice and Prevention in the Philippines, view reference here, was published by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in June 2021.

Bobby currently heads the Technical Assistance Team of GOJUST II-Human Rights, a project of the European Union (EU) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) that provides institutional support to the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

Previously he served as Undersecretary at the Office of the Political Adviser under the Office of the President (OP) during the term of President Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. He served as Executive Director of several non-government organizations, including the Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD) and Popular Education for People’s Empowerment (PEPE). He also worked for Oxfam, the ASEAN, and the United Nations. Finally, he is the founding Chair of the Peace Advocates for Truth, Healing, and Justice (PATH), a human rights group that promotes accountability among State and non-State armed groups.