'Women and Vigan'
And so we celebrated Women's Month with a 'calesa' parade all garbed in pink tshirts where the theme this year is printed 'Juana, ang Tatag Mo ay Tatag Natin sa Pagbangon at Pagsulong' (I translate it as, 'Filipino Women, Your Strength is Our Strength in Rising up to the Challenges of Development?). We had the horses decorated with pink balloons, too. The parade went around Plaza Maestro in Vigan, traversed the city, passed by the public market, the heritage village of Calle Crisologo.
Along the way, I thought of how beautiful the place must have been before 'modernization' intruded and came the concrete buildings. I was informed that the tourism authority in the province is very strict in regulating the construction of high-rise buildings, and that if the franchises of the famous fastfood chains would like a spot in the heritage village, they would adhere to the 'old and rustic' facade of the city.
We then proceeded to a colleague's place for a mini-cookfest, where five groups cooked different dishes for three judges to taste and declare one as the winner based on a set of criteria. Ate lunch, then someone asked if they can be treated to ice cream, so I said yes. All went their own ways after, one group went to a corner to play cards, another went to visit a friend in mourning. Nice, pleasant day to be free from the demands of work and celebrate 'womanhood'.
I asked then of a colleague at work, when we were writing development plans for the poor farming areas for possible funding of foreign donors more than a decade ago, what is was about gender and development, that appealed so much to donors. In the plans we made, we had to make sure that allocation was made to the advocacy of gender, or the role of women in development. We had to gather data on how many women were actually farming, which specific activities in farming the women perform, so on and so forth. Yet, it was just information. I asked myself, information as in input to what? Perhaps then, I was trying to figure out why foreign donors would want information like that and do nothing with it.
Through the years in my job, though, I now realize that the reason why I was puzzled at the interest of foreign donors to get the information (on the extent women in the Philippines contribute to development) was because women in this country are 'givens'. They have been there in each and every milestone in this country's history, and not only as muses in a parade or as cooks for the men at work. Women here actually fought a war, held primitive what-nots to fight the enemy, were arrested and deported because of their strong principles against occupation. All these while giving birth to the children of this nation, the brilliant minds, the talented individuals, the strong men and women who acted in behalf of all of us for our dignity, all those who helped shape it. Other nations might not have had that privilege of the likes of the Filipino woman? I can only guess, lest I would be accused of being subjective. But, you see, I am.
I grew up with women in the frontlines of both the civil societies and government, treated as an 'equal' by our men, simply because Filipino women are no-nonsense, but have managed to uphold the femininity that is attached to womanhood. We have all managed to strike that balance of being firm, yet we temper firmness with both intelligence and compassion. We 'think' objectively, at the same time listen to what our heart says, then meld that into a position that is best for all. I salute the Filipino woman, as today, I am able to ride a calesa not only as a woman-head-of-agency, but the horse trodding across this city adorned with the symbols of dexterity and resilience, pulled my carriage with pride, as if saying, 'you see those old, rustic, wooden, brick-laden houses that have endured centuries of pain, anguish, joy and happiness?, they are like all of you'. Broken, fixed up, broken again, and fixed again, but still standing with the dignity and pride that only the beautiful Philippines can gift us with.
Along the way, I thought of how beautiful the place must have been before 'modernization' intruded and came the concrete buildings. I was informed that the tourism authority in the province is very strict in regulating the construction of high-rise buildings, and that if the franchises of the famous fastfood chains would like a spot in the heritage village, they would adhere to the 'old and rustic' facade of the city.
We then proceeded to a colleague's place for a mini-cookfest, where five groups cooked different dishes for three judges to taste and declare one as the winner based on a set of criteria. Ate lunch, then someone asked if they can be treated to ice cream, so I said yes. All went their own ways after, one group went to a corner to play cards, another went to visit a friend in mourning. Nice, pleasant day to be free from the demands of work and celebrate 'womanhood'.
I asked then of a colleague at work, when we were writing development plans for the poor farming areas for possible funding of foreign donors more than a decade ago, what is was about gender and development, that appealed so much to donors. In the plans we made, we had to make sure that allocation was made to the advocacy of gender, or the role of women in development. We had to gather data on how many women were actually farming, which specific activities in farming the women perform, so on and so forth. Yet, it was just information. I asked myself, information as in input to what? Perhaps then, I was trying to figure out why foreign donors would want information like that and do nothing with it.
Through the years in my job, though, I now realize that the reason why I was puzzled at the interest of foreign donors to get the information (on the extent women in the Philippines contribute to development) was because women in this country are 'givens'. They have been there in each and every milestone in this country's history, and not only as muses in a parade or as cooks for the men at work. Women here actually fought a war, held primitive what-nots to fight the enemy, were arrested and deported because of their strong principles against occupation. All these while giving birth to the children of this nation, the brilliant minds, the talented individuals, the strong men and women who acted in behalf of all of us for our dignity, all those who helped shape it. Other nations might not have had that privilege of the likes of the Filipino woman? I can only guess, lest I would be accused of being subjective. But, you see, I am.
I grew up with women in the frontlines of both the civil societies and government, treated as an 'equal' by our men, simply because Filipino women are no-nonsense, but have managed to uphold the femininity that is attached to womanhood. We have all managed to strike that balance of being firm, yet we temper firmness with both intelligence and compassion. We 'think' objectively, at the same time listen to what our heart says, then meld that into a position that is best for all. I salute the Filipino woman, as today, I am able to ride a calesa not only as a woman-head-of-agency, but the horse trodding across this city adorned with the symbols of dexterity and resilience, pulled my carriage with pride, as if saying, 'you see those old, rustic, wooden, brick-laden houses that have endured centuries of pain, anguish, joy and happiness?, they are like all of you'. Broken, fixed up, broken again, and fixed again, but still standing with the dignity and pride that only the beautiful Philippines can gift us with.
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