Maita Gomez, beauty queen and freedom fighter, dies
12 July 2012
MANILA, Philippines - Maita Gomez, who shocked Philippine society when she joined the communist underground to fight the government of Ferdinand Marcos after being crowned Miss Philippines-World in 1967, died of a heart attack on Thursday, friends in the mass movement said.
Posts on Facebook by fellow activists, among them Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teddy Casino and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes, paid tribute to Gomez and bade her farewell.
Gomez disdained being called a "beauty queen", and spent the rest of her life advocating for social change. She was a founder of the women’s organization Gabriela and, at the time of her death, was co-chair of the Makabayan Coalition, which groups together party-list groups from the mainstream leftist bloc.
Her Makabayan co-chairman, Satur Ocampo, said: “We in Makabayan are proud and honored that she gladly accepted her nomination to co-chair the coalition in 2009, and she consistently and most capably performer her duties until her unexpected demise.â€
Ocampo said Gomez “never failed to speak out on the issues being discussed and her points were always well taken – reflective of her intellectual acumen and wisdom, built up from a multifaceted life and deep involvement in our people’s struggle.â€
more at
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/37327/maita-gomez-beauty-queen-and-freedom-fighter-diesLinkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=52575.0