Algamar Latiph
Algamar A. Latiph is a Filipino lawyer who is the chief legislative officer of Senator Robin Padilla since 2022. Throughout his legal career, he has advocated for the rights of Moro people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines.
Education
Latiph passed the Philippine bar exam in 2000. In 2007, he completed a three-month Chevening Fellowships for Islam and Governance at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.Career
In the 2000s, Latiph chaired the Muslim Youth and Students Alliance in Manila.Latiph chaired the Regional Human Rights Commission of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the 2010s, with the organization conducting an investigation with the Commission on [Human Rights (Philippines)|Commission on Human Rights] into the ill-fated police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in 2015. In 2016, he petitioned for the Supreme Court to deny the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, arguing that many Moros suffered under his dictatorship. Latiph also served in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that drafted the 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
In July 2020, Latiph and three other Muslim lawyers filed the 16th petition before the Supreme Court that challenged the legality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. During his oral argument in February 2021, Latiph asked the court to decide on the petitions "in the name of liberty and love".
Upon Muslim actor Robin Padilla's election to the Senate in 2022, Latiph was hired as his chief legislative officer. During his tenure, Latiph assisted in the creation of a Senate bill that sought to strengthen the powers of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in classifying media.