Edcel Lagman

Edcel Castelar Lagman Sr. (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈʔedsɛl], May 1, 1942 – January 30, 2025) was a Filipino human rights lawyer and politician from the province of Albay. He was elected as a member of the House from 1987 to 1998 and 2004 to 2013 and from 2016 up until his death. He served as Minority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives of the Philippines until 2012, when he resigned the office. Lagman was one of the key Liberal Party figures in the House of Representatives, having supported the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (which he principally authored), the SOGIE Equality Bill, the Free Tertiary Education Act, the Anti-Dynasty Bill, and the Freedom of Information Bill. He was also the principal author of the Divorce Bill, the Human Rights Defenders Bill, the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy Bill, and the Anti-Child Marriage Bill. Lagman was instrumental to the abolition of the death penalty in the Philippines in 2006 and continued to oppose proposals to reinstate capital punishment in the country. He was also the principal author of a triumvirate of human rights laws, namely the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 (R.A. 9745), the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012 (R.A. 10353), and the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 (R.A. 10368).