Nelia Sancho, magnificence queen, activist, passes away

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 2 September) – Tributes poured for magnificence queen-turned-activist Nelia Sancho after information of her demise got here out on Friday.

Sancho, who bagged the Queen of the Pacific title in 1971, was discovered lifeless on the UP Bliss Home in Quezon Metropolis round 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dr. Jean Lindo of Gabriela Ladies’s Social gathering mentioned.

Lindo mentioned it was Sancho’s son Antonio Karlo who knowledgeable them of his mom’s demise. She was 71.

Lindo thanked Sancho for her nice contributions to the ladies’s motion and empowerment of susceptible communities as a queen who “struggled with the individuals on the grassroots degree.”

“You weren’t simply Queen of the Pacific. You weren’t the form of the feminist outlined by the company world,” she mentioned.

Though vilified for her advocacies, Lindo added that individuals world wide praised Sancho for her work for peace and justice.

“I increase my clenched fist to the extraordinary human. Paalam at Salamat, Nelia Sancho. I’m grieving but I see function in you and it’s alive,” she mentioned.

In 1969, whereas nonetheless a scholar on the College of the Philippines , Sancho joined Binibining Pilipinas and completed first runner-up to Gloria Diaz, who would turn out to be the nation’s first Miss Universe titleholder.

Two years later, the Philippine Tourism Authority appointed her to symbolize the nation on the Queen of the Pacific in Melbourne, Australia. She received the title and bagged the Most Photogenic Award. She was additionally a sought-after mannequin for Pitoy Moreno, in accordance with the Pageant Throwback Philippines Fb web page.

Sancho turned a scholar activist and later joined the underground after Martial Legislation was declared. She was arrested throughout a raid in Cagayan de Oro Metropolis and spent over two years in jail, from 1976 to 1978.

In late1984, Sancho returned to Cagayan de Oro and reminisced her expertise there throughout a gathering the place leaders of progressive teams had been planning to stage a Mindanao-wide welgang bayan or normal strike.

She based Gabriela Nationwide Alliance of Ladies along with fellow magnificence queen-turned -activist Maita Gomez.

The group was named after Gabriela Silang, the equally heroic spouse of revolutionary Diego Silang.
Through the Nineteen Nineties, Sancho was elected to the board of trustees of Activity Pressure Detainees of the Philippines, a pioneering human rights group fashioned in 1974 by Church leaders.

Gabriela Ladies’s Social gathering, in a press release, expressed condolences to the household of Sancho

“Regardless of profitable the title of Queen of the Pacific in 1971, Nelia Sancho left the comforts of privileged life and have become an activist on the onset of the First Quarter Storm and ultimately joined the underground motion throughout Martial Legislation and have become a political prisoner,” it mentioned.

The First Quarter Storm refers back to the interval marked by huge scholar protests months earlier than the imposition of martial legislation by President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Sancho turned energetic in advocating for ladies empowerment and campaigned for simply compensation for Filipina consolation girls throughout World Warfare 2, Gabriela mentioned.

“She is proof that girls usually are not meant to be submissive and obedient, however have an important function in pushing for real freedom and human rights,” it mentioned.

Gabriela added that Sancho’s life would proceed to encourage generations of girls who will proceed the struggle in opposition to the “worsening humanitarian disaster within the nation.”

Award-winning author Don Pagusara mentioned he was unhappy to listen to concerning the passing of Sancho, a “First Quarter Storm veteran, political detainee, a pacesetter of the motion searching for justice for the ladies struggle victims of Japanese atrocities throughout WWII, and a champion of solidarity with the North Korean individuals.”

“Pagpugay at saludo kay Ka Nelia,” he mentioned.

Author and historian Macariu Tiu known as Sancho “a real freedom fighter.”

“Magnificence, brains, and real love for the Filipino individuals. A most lovely soul, a hero of the Filipino individuals,” Tiu added.

Social media was additionally flooded with expressions of grief and admiration for Sancho.

Sancho was married to the late Antonio Liao, an activist who was additionally detained throughout martial legislation and launched in 1986 after the ouster of Marcos. However their marriage didn’t final. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews with a report from H. Marcos C. Mordeno)