The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA, organization of former political prisoners against detention and arrest) accords the highest honor to our beloved Trinidad “Ka Trining” Herrera-Repuno who passed away on the 19th of April 2025 at the age of 83.
Ka Trining was elected chairperson of SELDA in its National Assembly in 2017. Previously, she was elected to SELDA’s National Board when the organization was headed by Marie Hilao-Enriquez. She was also one of the founding convenors of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) upon its establishment in 2016 when Bongbong Marcos ran for vice president.
So indefatigable was Ka Trining in working in organizations that stood against martial law because she was one of many mass leaders who struggled against the dictatorship. For this, she was imprisoned several times and severely tortured. In 1970, Ka Trining was elected chair of the Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), which initially consisted of 13 local community organizations in Tondo. In less than a year, ZOTO had up to 5,000 families as members. Under Ka Trining’s leadership, they courageously resisted Imelda Marcos’ beautification projects that would demolish the houses and evict thousands of people living in the affected communities. They fought for their basic right to decent housing.
On November 17, 1972, just two months since the declaration of martial law, ZOTO, under Ka Trining’s leadership, shattered the dictator’s fascist terror when 5,000 of its members marched to Malacañang, defying a strict ban on marches and rallies. This was followed by other big marches joined by thousands of Tondo residents in 1973, as they opposed a big World Bank-funded project of the Marcos dictatorship that would affect thousands of people from Tondo.
Ka Trining was arrested by the dictator Marcos’ minions in 1977, severely tortured and imprisoned. Nonetheless, upon her release, she bravely continued leading, organizing and mobilizing the urban poor. In 1979, up to 2,000 families were relocated from Tondo to what is now known as Dagat-dagatan.
Ka Trining persisted in community organizing and became active in senior citizens’ associations and similar groups. When SELDA was established, she helped found its chapter in Dagat-dagatan which remains active to this day. She continued to urge the urban poor to join gatherings and mobilizations. During interviews, she unflinchingly explained how the Marcos dicatorship’s open fascist violence suppressed the people’s rights and welfare.
Along with other martial law survivors, Ka Trining had a leading role in the struggle for justice for the victims of Marcos’ martial law. She was one of the witnesses in the historic class suit filed by victims of martial law against the Marcos estate. Her testimony at the Hawaii court was one of the solid pieces of evidence on which the court based its ruling that Marcos and his minions were accountable for thousands of human rights violations in this dark period of our country’s history. This ruling formed the strong basis to push for the enactment in 2013 of the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act, for which Ka Trining vigorously lobbied as a member of SELDA’s National Council. Ka Trining closely monitored the implementation of this law, which they campaigned hard for, as well as the provision of indemnification to the victims of martial law. Ka Trining was also one of those who filed a petition to block a hero’s burial for Marcos.
Our beloved Ka Trining was courageous and she was always in solidarity with the oppressed. She firmly believed that dictatorship should never be allowed to rule in our country again.
We salute you, Ka Trining, brave leader of the urban poor, bastion of SELDA and CARMMA and a loyal comrade.