Kem: Dead at 21

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/10 January) – Nearly a month since Kemberly Jul Luna, 21, was shot dead along with eight other members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in a military operation in Bukidnon, her relatives are still grappling with the pain of losing her and the secret she kept until her death.

Kem was a new member of the NPA operating in the remote mountains of Bukidnon, a secret she kept from her parents who live in Surigao and who sent her to this city as a scholar of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology.

Kem was killed on December 15 with the other NPA members in Sitio Bulacao, Barangay Concepcion, Valencia City in Bukidnon. Kem and her comrades were reportedly gathering there when their presence was reported to soldiers.

Her body was “kept by natives in the area who became her friends in the community” before it was laid along with other slain rebels.

“We will let the time heal our wounds and ultimately accept her death,” said a cousin who requested not to be named. [More at MindaNews]