(UPDATE) Commission on Human Rights Chairman Jose Luis Martin "Chito" Gascon has passed away at the age of 57, his family said Saturday.
Gascon died due to COVID-19, according to his brother, Miguel. "Sa dami mong laban, sa COVID pa tayo natalo! Love you Kuya!" he said on Facebook.
The CHR also confirmed Gascon's passing and praised him for courgeously upholding the commission's mandate despite challenges to human rights.
"Amidst the unrelenting attacks against the institution and to him personally, he was unwavering and unflinching in fighting for the universal values of freedom, truth, and justice that are essential in the pursuit of human rights," said CHR spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann De Guia.
"He was undaunting in the fight for human rights, rule of law, and democracy out of deep reverence to the equal rights and dignity of all," he added.
In Gascon's passing, De Guia said the CHR would continue his human rights work with "with equal fervor and sincerity."
Gascon was appointed CHR chairman in 2015 by the late President Benigno Aquino III, succeeding former Akbayan party-list Rep. Etta Rosales. He term was good until 2022.
Prior to being designated to the CHR, he served as a member of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board which is responsible for providing reparation to the victims of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos' martial law.
Gascon was the youngest member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 charter. He was also an activist and student leader, being elected as chairperson of the University Student Council of UP Diliman in 1985.
He was vocal against the government's war on drugs, earning him the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Apart from human rights, Gascon also advocated for access to justice and the rule of law, transparency and accountability in government, and people's participation, according to the CHR.