They Grieved Then Took on the Struggle for Justice Published on October 21, 2010

They Grieved Then Took on the Struggle for Justice

Published on October 21, 2010

“Who would continue their tasks? The dead could no longer speak. It is us, the ones they left behind, who must carry on what they had started,” said Evangeline Hernandez, mother of slain human rights defender Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez and chairwoman of Hustisya!
By RONALYN V. OLEA

Bulatlat.com
MANILA – After a loved one became a victim of extrajudicial killing, how does one go on with life?

For Evangeline Hernandez, losing a daughter has led her to a meaningful cause. For Ernan Baldomero, the death of his father became a wakeup call.

Nanay Evan, as what her colleagues call her, 50, is the mother of Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez who was killed along with three others in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato on April 5, 2002. Beng was then deputy secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region and vice president for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). In a recent decision, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held the Philippine government accountable for her death.

From a Small Entrepreneur to a Human Rights Activist

Nanay Evan holds a photograph of slain daughter Beng Hernandez.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)

Ernan, meanwhile, is the second of the five children of Fernando Baldomero. Fernando, municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan and provincial chairman of Bayan Muna, was gunned down on July 5 in front of his residence in Kalibo, Aklan.

Nanay Evan and Ernan met at the first national assembly of Hustisya! (United for Justice), an organization of relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings.

Before Beng was killed, Nanay Evan was preoccupied with their small food business in Davao City. Nanay Evan knew of Beng’s activism, when she was still a student at the Ateneo de Davao University. “That time, I was not politically conscious. I could not understand why she had to do those things,” Nanay Evan told Bulatlat in an interview....MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/10/21/they-grieved-then-took-on-the-struggle-for-justice/