Melba Padilla Maggay (born 1951) is a Filipina writer, social anthropologist, and social activist best known for her academic work and books on culture, social change and development issues, and as the founder of the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC).
Maggay was the ninth child, with a mother of Spanish-Filipino mestizo background and father of Cavite origins.
in Mass Communication from the University of Philippines in 1972, a few months before Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law.
[3] In 1978, Maggay co-founded the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC) in response to the crisis posed by the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
[4] Dr. Maggay's Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC) and Dr. Isabelo Magalit's congregation at the Diliman Bible Church (DBC) were the main groups that came together to form Konsensiya ng Febrero Siete (KONFES) and participate in the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986.