# Corazon Agrava

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{{short description|Filipino judge (1915–1997)}}
{{Philippine name|Buenaventura |Juliano|Agrava|ph=married}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable)
| honorific_suffix = 
| name             = Corazon Juliano-Agrava
| image            = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| office           = Chairperson of the [Agrava Fact-Finding Board](/source/Assassination_of_Ninoy_Aquino)
| term_start       = October 1983
| term_end         = October 1984
| appointer        = [Ferdinand Marcos](/source/Ferdinand_Marcos)
| predecessor      = ''Post established''
| successor        = ''Post abolished''
| birth_name       = Corazon Buenaventura Juliano<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HLCXAwAAQBAJ&q=maria+corazon+agrava&pg=PA13| title=Assassination! |last=Paul Donnelley | date=February 2012 |publisher=Dataday Publishing, 2012| isbn=9781908963031 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/corazon_agrava |title=Corazon Agrava}}</ref>
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1915|08|07}}
| birth_place      = [Manila](/source/Manila)
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1997|10|01|1915|08|07}}
| death_place      = [Quezon City](/source/Quezon_City)
| spouse           = 1
| parents          = {{unbulleted list| Francisco Juliano | Cenona Buenaventura }}
| nickname         = Rosy<ref>{{cite web|url=https://topsincph.org/justice-corazon-agrava-legacy-lives-on-as-tops-celebrates-its-50th-year/| title=Justice Corazon Agrava Legacy Lives on As Tops Celebrates Its 50th Year| date=13 September 2019}}</ref>
| known_for        = Chairperson, Agrava Commission<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/10/23/marcos-names-new-panel-on-aquino-slaying/e88ce31d-3bdd-46ee-919c-b9ab993ba27d/| title= Marcos Names New Panel On Aquino Slaying| last=William Branigin |publisher=The Washington Post, October 1983}}</ref>
| occupation       = [Judge](/source/Judge), [lawyer](/source/lawyer)
}}

'''Corazon Juliano-Agrava'''<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8esuAAAAIAAJ&q=the+honorable+Corazon+Agrava&pg=RA40-PA9 |title=United States Congressional Serial Set |year=1969 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1969}}</ref> ([Manila](/source/Manila), 7 August 1915 – [Quezon City](/source/Quezon_City), 1 October 1997) was a Filipino judge and the second woman in 1954 appointed as judge of a Court of First Instance.<ref>{{cite book|title= Filipino women in nation building|last=Herminia Ancheta en Michaela Beltran-Gonzalez|publisher=Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., Quezon City, 1984}}</ref> She was then president of the Court for Youth and Home Affairs in Manila.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Philippines Who's who|last=D. H. Soriano, Isidro L. Retizos|publisher=Who's Who Publishers, 2nd ed. (1981)}}</ref>  Records also show that she has served as a Court of Appeals Justice.<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-star/20160602/282209420110741?srsltid=AfmBOopSvx67yV-FNEV5dwtCGaFo3lDyrG2AUkTqZQg6i39YUF5KuhJR |access-date=2024-12-16 |via=PressReader}}</ref> Agrava gained worldwide fame when in 1984, she was appointed the chairperson of a fact-finding board commission by President [Ferdinand Marcos](/source/Ferdinand_Marcos) to investigate the cause of the murder of opposition leader [Benigno Aquino Jr.](/source/Benigno_Aquino_Jr.) in 1983.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXE73VWcsEEC&q=Corazon+Agrava&pg=PA280|title=The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance|last=Daniel B. Schirmer|year=1987|publisher=South End Press, 1987|page=280|isbn=9780896082755}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNjfAAAAMAAJ&q=Corazon+Agrava|title=	Time, Volume 124, Issues 19-27|publisher=Time Incorporated, 1984|last=Briton Hadden, Henry Robinson Luce|year=	1984}}</ref> She has also been active in various other social and cultural organizations, including the Women Rights Movement of the [Philippines](/source/Philippines), the Philippine Association of University Women, the National Civic Assembly of Women and U.P. Alumni Association.

==Investigation on Benigno Aquino Jr.'s assassination==

'''Agrava''' '''Board'''

In October 1983, President [Ferdinand Marcos](/source/Ferdinand_Marcos) signed the Presidential decree no. 1886, known as the "[Agrava Fact-Finding Board](/source/Assassination_of_Ninoy_Aquino)" to investigate the assassination of opposition senator [Benigno Aquino Jr.](/source/Benigno_Aquino_Jr.) Marcos appointed Agrava to be the chairperson of the board, members are Luciano Salazar, Dante Santos, [Ernesto Herrera](/source/Ernesto_Herrera_(politician)), Amado Dizon, and legal counsel [Andres Narvasa](/source/Andres_Narvasa).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/27/world/aquino-panel-makes-little-headway.html| title=Aquino Panel Makes Little Headway| work=The New York Times| date=27 November 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/115635/masterminded-ninoys-murder| title=Who masterminded Ninoy's murder?| last=[Artemio Panganiban](/source/Artemio_Panganiban)| publisher=[Philippine Daily Inquirer](/source/Philippine_Daily_Inquirer), August 26, 2018}}</ref> After almost a year, the board submitted two reports to Marcos; a minority report submitted by Agrava herself, and a majority report submitted by the members. Agrava's report cleared General [Fabian Ver](/source/Fabian_Ver) while the majority report indicted Ver, General Luther Custodio and General Prospero Olivas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/143594-look-back-ninoy-aquino-assassination/| title= LOOK BACK: The Aquino assassination| last= Jodesz Gavilan| publisher=[Rappler](/source/Rappler) news}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/10/23/marcos-names-new-panel-on-aquino-slaying/e88ce31d-3bdd-46ee-919c-b9ab993ba27d/| title= Marcos Names New Panel On Aquino Slaying| last=William Branigin |publisher=The Washington Post, October 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/24/world/panel-on-slaying-of-aquino-finds-a-military-plot.html| title=Panel on Slaying of Aquino Finds a Military Plot| last=Steve Lohr| work=The New York Times| date=24 October 1984}}</ref>

She even used to scold the soldiers on the witness stand, as if they were her children. Also, she once led the board to sing "Happy Birthday" for First Lady [Imelda Marcos](/source/Imelda_Marcos) twice, because Marcos was the first one to be called to testify before the investigative commission on her birthday.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/23/Corazon-Agrava-Chairman-of-Aquino-commission/2707467352000/| title=Corazon Agrava: Chairman of Aquino commission| publisher= United Press International |date=October 1984}}</ref>

In October 1984, after a year of investigation, she was called out of retirement. Lupino Lazaro, the lawyer of the family of scapegoat Rolando Galman<ref>{{Cite web|date=1990-09-28|title=Murderers of Benigno Aquino convicted|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/09/28/Murderers-of-Benigno-Aquino-convicted/3354654494400/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=UPI|language=en}}</ref> said, "I felt since the very beginning that Justice Agrava did not have the makings of someone who would go all out. She has failed the people, and failed miserably at that."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/23/Corazon-Agrava-Chairman-of-Aquino-commission/2707467352000/| title=Corazon Agrava: Chairman of Aquino commission| publisher=United Press International |date=October 1984}}</ref> Agrava, who was in tears and choking voice addressed the crowd saying,

{{blockquote|"You who are booing, I can in all conscience state that what I placed in my report is what I believe in ... You can even slander me. I couldn't care. If my best is not good enough for you, just because I didn't conform with your own prejudgment of the case, then I'm just sorry for you." |Agrava said on Tuesday, October 23, 1984.}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/23/Corazon-Agrava-Chairman-of-Aquino-commission/2707467352000/| title=Corazon Agrava: Chairman of Aquino commission| publisher= United Press International |date=October 1984}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Born on August 7, 1915, by Cenona Buenaventura and Francisco Juliano. Agrava became an [attorney](/source/lawyer) after placing second and passed the 1938 bar exam. She became [judge](/source/judge) of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court until 1977 when Marcos uplifted her as [Associate Justice](/source/Associate_Justice)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2013/08/18/news/top-stories/the-unsolved-murder-of-ninoy-aquino/30914/| title=The unsolved murder of Ninoy Aquino |last=August 18, 1983 |publisher=[The Manila Times](/source/The_Manila_Times)}}</ref> at the [Court of Appeals of the Philippines](/source/Court_of_Appeals_of_the_Philippines).

She was married to Federico Agrava, a lawyer,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legal-opinion.blog/2019/08/07/hilado-v-david-g-r-no-l-961-september-21-1949/ |title=Hilado v. David, G.R. No. L-961, September 21, 1949 |last=Atty. Aldrin Jose M. Cana |publisher=CPA-Lawyer Philippines}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1956/aug1956/gr_l-10544_1956.html |title=G.R. No. L-10544, August 30, 1956 |publisher=The Lawphil Project, Arellano Law Fovndation |access-date=June 25, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611095604/https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1956/aug1956/gr_l-10544_1956.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> but childless. But she became the "unofficial guardian" of hundreds of so-called Filipino 'street kids'.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/23/Corazon-Agrava-Chairman-of-Aquino-commission/2707467352000/| title=Corazon Agrava: Chairman of Aquino commission| publisher= United Press International |date=October 1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/21/world/head-of-aquino-panel-doubts-manila-s-account.html| title=Head of Aquino Panel Doubts Manila's Account| work=The New York Times| date=21 January 1984}}</ref>

=== Organizations ===

In 1947, she founded the UP Women Lawyer's Circle (WILOCI) at the request of Former President [Manuel Roxas](/source/Manuel_Roxas).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/635193/up-legal-eagles-take-poor-women-kids-under-their-wing| title=UP legal eagles take poor women, kids under their wing| last=Araceli Z. Lorayes| publisher= Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2015}}</ref>

Agrava was one of the women who incorporated and registered the FIDA Philippine Branch based on the [FIDA](/source/International_Federation_of_Women_Lawyers) which was a group of women lawyers, together with [Josefina Phodaca-Ambrosio](/source/Josefina_Phodaca-Ambrosio), Pacita de los Reyes-Philips, [Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera](/source/Ameurfina_Melencio-Herrera), Agustina Rosette-Navarro, Carolina Basa-Salazar, Medina Lacson-de Leon, Milagros German, Remedios Nufable-Gatmaitan, Lumen R. Policarpio, Pilar Perez-Nable, Lilia de Jesus-Sevilla. Magdalena Lapus-Lazaro, Gregoria Cruz-Arnaldo and Remedios Mijares-Austria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fidaphilippines.org/history.shtml|title=FIDA Philippines, Federation Internacional de Abogadas|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=2019-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503064818/http://www.fidaphilippines.org/history.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Charitable work===

In 1969, Agrava founded the Tahanan Outreach Projects and Services Inc. (TOPS), a social service organization that delivers learning and childcare projects for the welfare of underprivilege children. The program created a shelter for children as well.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/09/23/tops-reinvents-itself-as-learning-center/| title= TOPS reinvents itself as learning center |publisher= [BusinessMirror](/source/BusinessMirror), September 23, 2019}}</ref>

===Death===

Agrava died on October 1, 1997, at the age of 82 in [Quezon City](/source/Quezon_City), from heart failure.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/97//feat7.html| title=CORAZON AGRAVA, 82, ASIAWEEK| publisher=CNN, Oct. 1997}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr.](/source/Assassination_of_Benigno_Aquino_Jr.)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrava, Corazon}}
Category:1915 births
Category:1997 deaths
Category:20th-century Filipino lawyers
Category:Filipino women judges
Category:Lawyers from Manila

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Corazon Agrava](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Agrava) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corazon_Agrava?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.