The Philippines has been ranked number 17 among 165 countries as the best place for women. It is the only Asian nation included in the 20 best places for women as researched by the newsmagazine Newsweek.
Newsweek identified its top 20 nations for women choices as Iceland, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, United States, the Netherlands, New Zealand, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Macedonia, Moldova, the Philip-pines, Belgium, United Kingdom and Romania.
The Newsweek acknowledgment is just the latest of what was/ is generally known about the Philippines’s kababaihans since before the Spaniards reached our soil. For the Pinay has held her own as early as those times , nurtured by a culture that accorded her more than due respect ‘:.. The Spaniards of the 1500s were horrified by the revolting liberty and too high social status of the woman, mujer indigena, in the islands just conquered by them. Women could own property and rule the people, act as leaders of rites and ceremonies of the society, and divorce their husbands. Women wrote poems on banana leaves and sang the tribe’s songs – that was considered as women’s work and is still regarded as such among indigenous peoples…’ by Riitta Vartti
(Sivu on päivitetty 2.1.2007, Riitta Vartti, riitta.vartti@kolumbus.fi updated An article from
Firefly – Filipino Short Stories(Tulikärpänen – filippiiniläisiä novelleja)
Riitta Vartti (ed.), Kääntöpiiri, Helsinki 2001)
…Sa totoo lang, mala Espanya din daw ang preSpanish Philippines- di ba’t Spain also accorded much honor to women, having been founded as a nation by a woman, Isabella I of Castille. In the last years of world colonization by Spain, its ruler was again a woman, Isabella II of Spain who cast absolute power over everything that her kingdom owned.
At ang taas- noo at may paninindigang Pinay ay pinilit pababain ang dangal- inalisan ng machong Kastila ng maraming oportunidad at karapatan- hinimok na sa tahanan na lang pumirme at magsilbing ilaw nito; tanging mga anak mayaman lang ang pinayagang pumasok ng eskwela (this would change drastically as Queen Isabel II, in the last years of colonization, issued a decree that allowed free primary education for both male and female youths in all of Spain’s colonies.The Education Decree of 1863 came ten years before Japan enacted its compulsory, free public education and some 40 years ahead of the United States of America’s free public school system in the Philippines).
Ang modelong Pinay ay ginawang mistulang si Maria Clara sa nobela ni Dr. Rizal- himatayin, mahinhin at mabini, mahiyain at mababaw. Ang pagsasalarawan kay Maria Clara, ayon sa mga progresibong kababaihan ngayon ang’greatest misfortune that has befallen Filipino women in a hundred years.’ Itranslate ko nga- ‘pinakasukdulang kamalasan’, grabe! But I remember lang, ha,In my Pilipino Class at UP noon (Doming Landicho was my prof, I remember well kasi napakagaling nya mag explain) hindi naman talaga glorified si Maria Clara sa Noli Me Tangere novel ni Rizal. Bagkus, isang panunuya nga yata ang characterization sa kanya doon- in short,hindi bida si Maria Clara. Representasyon lang sya tulad ng karakter ni Dona Victorina who represented something else naman. I don’t think Rizal intended Maria Clara to be regarded as the book’s heroine. And at the mention that Rizal’s ex, Leonor Rivera (kababayan ko po sa tunay na buhay, Leonor was from Camiling, Tarlac, my father’s birthplace) was the inspiration for Maria Clara, hmmm, ewan ko lang po ang katotohanan dito- irrelevant naman at di ko na rin nais malaman kasi baka lumaki ang intriga at di ko makayanang sagutin. Itong si Lola Leonor kasi ay sa iba ipinakasal, kay Kipping, isang British naman na gumawa ng railroad system sa Norte nung mga panahong iyon.
Ang maraming taon na napagtagumpayan ng mga Kastila na pababain ang lebel ng kababaihan sa Pilipinas ay di mandin nakapigil sa ilan na muli’t muli ay ibandila ang galing at kakayahan ng babaing Pinay- andyan si Prinsesa Urduja sa Pangasinan, si Gabriella Silang ng Ilocos na nagpatuloy sa laban ng nasawing kabiyak ng pusong si Diego para supilin ang mga Kastila, si Melchora Aquino ng Caloocan na nagbigay suporta sa ating mga lolo rebolusyonaryo in the 1800s. Meantime, nangulit nang nangulit din ang 21 kawomenan ng Malolos nung panahong binubuo ang Republika para sa mga karapatang pangkababaihan at balitang katalastasan nilang masugid sina Dr. Jose Rizal at Marcelo del Pilar.
O e tingnan naman natin kung nasaan na ang Pinay ngayon- nagkaroon na tayo ng dalawang female Philippine Presidents; naglitawan na ang napakaraming very bright, intelligent, very capable women leading the corporate world, heading government offices,becoming esteemed members of the judiciary becoming members of the medical profession, lawayering, doing research work that could lead to strides in sciences and technology, becoming members of the military and police forces, becoming pilots, welders, technicians… doing great, in short.
I feel talagang nasa kultura na ng Pinoy ang pagpapahalaga sa kanilang mga kababaihan- so ingrained is this acknowledgment in even the most mundane, ordinary everyday activities that natural na natural na lang para sa lahat. Di na pinag- uukulan ng pag- iisip o binabato ng anumang kontrobersiya. Tulad na lang ng papel na ginagampanan sa pamilya- women are the money handlers. Marami pa ring asawang kalalakihan ang nagaabot ng pay envelopes ‘in full’ sa kanilang mga misis dito, lalo na dun sa mga taga lalawigan. Women are expected to be prudent wit its contents, I budget, tipirin at ibili ng pangangailangan ng pamilya sa murang halaga lamang. Pinays are expected to decide most of the time on family management and administration concerns with the minimum of consultations hanggat maaari para hwag na lang abalahin si mr na naghahanapbuhay. On matters of prime import, dun pwede ni mrs abalahin si mr.
That is why, the Pinay knows and feels her importance in the family and of late, in society. Sa barangay, prime movers ang mga ladies- bakit nga ba kabibilis umintindi at kumilos ng mga mrs. ng barangay? Entonces, sa kanila ibinabato ang karamihan ng mga proyekto that concerns nutrition, education, neighborliness, etc. Sa kalalakihan naman usually ang infrastructure, sports,at campaign to catch stray dogs in the neighborhood, hehehe.
So, balik tayo sa news article-
At nagpasalamat daw ang Malacanang to Newsweek for bestowing the honor to our Pinays. Ano???? Vakit ka nagpasalamat? Pwede naman to thank Newsweek for the acknowledgment- be aware lang that di naman sila may gawa sa karangalang ito.
This was made by Pinays of all generations who strived to live up to their foremothers’ (partner ng forefathers) ideals. Ditto with our society, imperfect as it may be, because it opened wide many opportunities to women- kinailangan lang minsan ng pangungulit, tyaga, sipag and conscientiousness on the women’s part- which they delivered naman.
CONGRATS TO THE WOMEN OF PINAS!
THANK YOU, TORONTO!