August 6, 2006
In memoriam
ALYCE
CAPUYAN OMENGAN-CLAVER
1964 – 2006
Alyce Capuyan Omengan-Claver is the seventh among 11 siblings born to Robert Omengan and Elnora Capuyan of Sagada, Mountain Province. She was born on May 7, 1964 in Tabuk, Kalinga. Despite belonging to one of the prominent clans of the Mountain Province, she was raised with the values of perseverance, industry and humility, in a family that strongly believes in nationalism and patriotism. These are values that she lived by until her untimely death.
Alyce finished elementary education at the Tabuk Central School in 1976. In 1980, she graduated from secondary education at the Kalinga-Apayao Provincial High School now known as Tabuk National High School. She later got a degree in AB Commerce at the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation in 1986.
She was both beauty and brains – a consistent honor student throughout her academic years. In high school, she was the second runner-up in a province-wide beauty contest and crowned as Miss Charity in 1978; and the following year won as Bb. Bagong Lipunan during the Linggo ng Wika celebrations.
While a college student, she worked as a staff of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance’s Manila office. On many occasions, she assisted leaders from the Cordillera villages who would travel to Manila to bring up human rights violations and other issues. Such advocacy she continued for the rest of her life.
On June 12, 1991, Alyce and Dr. Chandu Claver were married in Manila. They were blessed with three beautiful daughters: Samantha “Sam”, 12; Cassandra “Sandy”, 11; and Alexandra “Alex”, 7.
Despite marriage and motherhood, her advocacy for indigenous peoples’ rights and human rights never wavered. She and Chandu supported each other’s work in their political involvement that further strengthened their love and commitment to each other.
In the 2001 elections, as a member of Bayan Muna (BM), together with Chandu who was elected as Vice Chairperson of BM-Kalinga, she campaigned hard for the party-list group. She joined community mobilizations explaining the partylist system and the BM program.
Alyce was also a very loving mother. She ensured that her daughters went to school on time, ready with their assignments. She and her husband never missed out on their daughters’ school activities.
On July 31, 2006 at 6:45 a.m., unidentified elements of the State peppered her and husband Chandu with M16 bullets after they brought Alexandra to school. She was hit in the head, neck and shoulders. A fighter to the end, she fought hard to survive. She was declared dead at 12:45 p.m., after overcoming eight cardiac arrests. But she lives on among us, as thousands more of young Alyces take her place in the people’s struggle.
(Written by Beverly L. Longid, Vice-Chairperson, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, with minor revisions. – Nordis eds.)
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