CHR chair Chito Gascon dies of COVID-19

Commission on Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon, 57-years-old, has died of COVID-19, his brother declared on Saturday.

“Sa dami mong laban, sa COVID pa tayo na talo! Love you Kuya! RIP Chito Gascon,” his brother Miguel Gascon wrote in a Facebook post.

[Translation: Of all the many battles you have fought, you lost to COVID. Love you, big brother! RIP, Chito Gascon.]

Gascon had served the CHR for six years. Before leading the CHR, he was a member of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board, the body assigned to receive, evaluate, and investigate compensation claims made by victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law.

The human rights lawyer and political activist who was also the youngest member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, as well as the 8th Congress, had graduated from the University of the Philippines with an undergraduate degree in philosophy, then pursued a Bachelor of Laws degree from the same school.

His death received a lot of tributes and condolences from former colleagues and friends.

“His leadership in the Commission has inspired and nurtured a culture of enabling, empowering, and safe environment that move CHR personnel to always serve with genuine compassion… utmost integrity, and excellence,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia mentioned in a statement.

CHR vowed to “continue the human rights work with equal fervor and sincerity that Chair Chito exemplified in his work.”

Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit will serve as officer-in-charge, following Gascon’s passing, de Guia said.

Vice President Leni Robredo honoured Gascon as a person who “touched many lives” and “was a constant light in these dark times.”

“It is now up to all of us to tend to this light. May we all honor his legacy by following his example of compassion, courage, and integrity,” she had said in her message.

French Republic to the Philippines Ambassador Michèle Boccoz and European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Veron recalled Gascon as a “friend” in upholding human rights in the country.

Gascon was one of his “idols as a young activist.” Liberal Party vice president Teddy Baguilat said.

Gascon was a human rights defender since the Marcos regime. He was also a very vocal critic of the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war.