We, her sisters in the women’s group Pilipina, knew her for three things: her sense of humor, which she brought to bear on any discussion, even the most serious and ponderous ones; her “signature song,” “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” complete with hilarious poses and pauses; and her fierce defense of positions she strongly believed in, particularly the rights of the poor, the downtrodden, the silenced.
I personally remember Luzminda “Luchie” Bandibas Salcedo for our shared passion for all things Korean. When we were roommates at a conference, she asked if I would mind if she turned to the KBS cable TV channel. When I said I didn’t mind a bit, Luchie beamed, and together we watched a couple of dramas and even a show called “The Return of Superman” about male actors/celebrities spending an entire day with their young children, which I think is a rare enough activity in Korea to merit its own show. That was our “bonding” moment.
Indeed, there were many interesting, intriguing features of Luchie’s life, beginning with her name. “Luzminda” means “Light of Mindanao,” thought up by her father to symbolize his hopes for a better life in the “Land of Promise” when he moved his family from Southern Leyte to Davao City.
Despite their meager income, Luchie’s parents were able to send her and her siblings to a private Catholic mission school. After graduating from high school, Luchie enrolled in a vocational course and became active in community work, volunteering in adult literacy work and organizing cooperatives. She was later recruited and trained as a community organizer by the Jesuit-founded Mindanao Development Center (MDC), which assists urban poor communities in their claim for land and housing rights. The MDC would serve as her base organization until her death.
While working as a community organizer in the MDC, Luchie pursued a college education and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, majoring in history, from the Rizal Memorial Colleges in Davao City in 1987.
Luchie was one of the pioneering members of Pilipina (Ang Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipino) which was founded in the early 1980s, and served as chair of the Davao chapter from 2011 until 2017. She also represented Pilipina in WAND, or the Women’s Action Network for Development, and served as its chair from 2004 to 2016.
At the same time, apparently finding no contradiction between her feminist involvements and her faith life, Luchie was an active member of the Catholic Women’s League in her parish, and, according to her friends and family, “engaged in constructive dialogue with her parish priests and officers of the Lay Council (mostly men) on the issues of reproductive health and family wellbeing.”
Luchie was likewise active in peace advocacy, particularly in interfaith conversations and dialogues. She led the activities of “Women in White,” advocating an end to the war in Mindanao and pushing for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
In April 2001, she was appointed to the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, serving as commissioner until 2010, where her skills in organizing urban poor homeowners’ associations and negotiating with local government authorities were put to good use.
But it was as Luchie up close and personal that we remember her best. She could help dial-down tense situations with timely quips. With sisters Louee Padilla of the Baguio-Benguet chapter and Marie June Pavillar-Castro of Bacolod-Negros Occidental, Luchie planned and organized many memorable solidarity nights that would “last a lifetime in the memory of the Pilipina sisterhood.”
Luchie was married to Rodolfo “Loy” Cano Salcedo and was mother to Renante “Ren-Ren,” 25, who is himself married with two children. She and her husband also took in two children of relatives under their care, Renmar, 9, and Christian Jeunesse, 14.