Fina Robles’s return to Naga City in December 2016 was supposed to be the joyful culmination of a long and difficult sacrifice. For eight long years, the 43-year-old had worked as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Hong Kong, enduring the profound loneliness of a life away from home for one singular purpose: to provide a better future for her only daughter, Aen. Her husband had passed away in 2008, leaving her as the sole provider.

Now, with her daughter a 23-year-old woman, Fina had finally come home for good, ready to rebuild the bond that distance had strained. But the quiet life she envisioned would soon be shattered by a devastating betrayal, a choice that would lead her daughter down a tragic path and force a heartbroken mother to fight for a justice she never imagined she would have to seek.

The initial reunion was colored by a quiet awkwardness, the natural result of years spent apart. But Fina was determined. Her world, however, was soon complicated by the arrival of Salvador Buen Camino, a 39-year-old, charismatic local kagawad (village councilor).

He was separated from his wife, and his friendly demeanor and persistent attention slowly won over the lonely Fina. Soon, Salvador moved into their home. Though Aen was initially hesitant, she eventually accepted his presence, and for a brief time, the three of them formed a new, seemingly complete family.

But beneath the surface of this newfound domestic peace, a dark and secret current was flowing. Fina began to notice small, unsettling things: lingering glances between Salvador and her daughter, quiet whispers in the kitchen late at night. One early morning, she was awakened by the sound of footsteps just outside Aen’s room.

Her mother’s intuition screamed that something was wrong. Her worst fears were confirmed one evening when she witnessed an intimate moment between them—a touch, a look that was undeniably more than familial.

The confrontation was immediate and explosive. Fina, her voice trembling with the pain of a double betrayal, demanded they end their affair. But instead of shame or remorse, she was met with defiance.

Aen, the daughter for whom she had sacrificed everything, chose her lover over her mother, defending Salvador and lashing out with words that cut deeper than any knife. That night, the two of them packed their bags and left, leaving Fina utterly alone and heartbroken in the home she had returned to build.

In the weeks that followed, Fina became the subject of cruel local gossip—the mother abandoned by her own daughter for her lover. She tried to reconcile, visiting the apartment where Aen and Salvador had moved in together, but her daughter’s heart was hardened. Aen accused her of being an obstacle to her happiness, even telling her she should have stayed in Hong Kong. Salvador, his friendly facade now gone, warned her to stay away, his voice laced with a cold threat.

The simmering family tragedy took a sharp and horrific turn in August 2018. Fina received a frantic call: Aen was gone. She had fallen from the third-story apartment she shared with Salvador.

When a numb Fina arrived at the scene, Salvador was already there, frantically telling police it was a tragic accident—that Aen had slipped while cleaning. But the whispers of the neighbors told a different story. They had heard a loud, violent argument just before the fall, a woman’s voice, clearly Aen’s, screaming in anger.

Fina’s grief was immediately channeled into a fierce quest for the truth. The autopsy report supported her suspicions, revealing bruises on Aen’s body that were inconsistent with a fall, suggesting she had been in a physical altercation before her passing.

The most damning evidence, however, was found on Aen’s own cellphone. Investigators recovered a string of text messages between her and Salvador from her final days, detailing intense arguments fueled by jealousy. The digital trail revealed that Aen had just discovered Salvador was cheating on her with another woman.

With this powerful motive established, Salvador Buen Camino was arrested and charged with homicide. The trial began in January 2019. His defense team tried to argue that Aen had been depressed and may have taken her own life, but the evidence of a violent struggle and the clear motive of a “crime of passion” were too strong. In November 2019, Salvador was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

Fina Robles, the mother who had been betrayed in the most painful way imaginable, sat silently in the courtroom as the verdict was read. She had lost her daughter twice—first to a forbidden love, and then forever. But in her darkest hour, she had honored her unbreakable vow as a mother, fighting until the very end to ensure that her child, the girl she had sacrificed everything for, would not be forgotten and would, at last, receive justice.