The Iconography of the Modern Filipina

In a country where men tend to feel superior, I feel that the modern Filipina has a take if not a huge role in molding a society of greatness and equality. This high regard solely comes from my perspective as a young woman, seeing others my age strive for personal growth and fulfillment. Through the years, we have seen the best and worst of times, dictating norms through which Filipino women either adapt or accept, and the best offered what this lifetime has for a woman who wants to stay true to herself…with the worst typifying the kind of abuse and torment a woman faces as cruelty takes place. Neither becomes a help nor resolution unless we see every Filipina and her worth- in its truest sense.

Who is the modern Filipina? Is she the kind who graces someone else’s home donning aprons alone? Or is she the ever seeking, ambitious career woman who prefers work over family and relationships? Does time has something to do with changes in her mind or is it the changes propelling time for women to take charge?

A modern Filipina is someone who regards time as her way of doing…achieving things. She makes use of them with patience and wit; knowing how every minute spells change. There are those whose toughness reveals them in power suits while others in terms of disciplining their kids. She makes every decision with utmost care, bearing that urgency needs not to be quick but wise instead. She makes time her compass, her medium for the world, facing what needs to be faced and doing what needs to be done- not only for herself but for others.

A modern Filipina makes every house a home. Her caressing hands equip oneself of caring for a family she loves; her thinking mind grants her the wisdom to make decisions beneficial to all and her gracious presence provides warmth to a household where children and spouses enjoy. A Filipina is a mother whose love is unconditional. She knows when and where to give compassion, healing wounds and bringing smiles. A mother is the ever nurturing soul…with ears which do not only listen but understands; with lips which do not only kisses but speaks in gentle sparks. At some point in our lives, we knew of our mothers as our savior, and Filipina mothers have always been like that- so ready to care and protect the ones they love…

A modern Filipina is a woman of society. She is well- mannered, and principles define her charm. We believe in the goodness of every man/woman, the capacity to effect change and be instrumental in the betterment of our country. We manage offices; take part in socio-civic affairs. We never just cook or launder clothes for we have our bodies, our minds working …rearing. Every Filipina assumes a role worth knowing as she knows where to go…for what purpose and never departs from challenges.

A modern Filipina is a woman of God. Her beliefs she practices with utmost conviction. Faith brings her to her knees, knowing that there is a greater source of strength beyond her own. She never ridicules someone else’s faith for respect she follows. She holds pride wisely learning that life is a road she cannot travel alone. She recognizes faces for their worth as she wants them to recognize hers along. She holds strongly the fire within, making her friends and family, feel that faith and religion is important for one’s enlightenment, proving how help comes in many ways and forms.

A Filipina is anyone who shares her being unselfishly. Be it at home, work, charity or politics or even religion, she knows where she stands and how she moves. Her beauty is not about color, race, age or body size, it is about her total person, the manner she carries herself to the eyes who may either like or dislike them. Her knowledge goes with experience; it spells brain with a softer brawl for knowing what is right or wrong for herself. She values her conscience and acts accordingly with it, utilizing her hunch and guts to prove it. She is one woman who will never allow anyone to harm her-physically or verbally. For she knows she is capable of self- protecting.

Yes. A modern Filipina is all these and she will always be. Achieve what you conceive and never let anyone utter your voice for you…speak it yourself.

This post is a submission for the WikiPilipinas Filipina Writing Contest. I am a 30-yr. old aspiring writer who feels that Filipinas are great images of substance and wealth, both in mind and heart. Support the Filipina Images campaign and help thrive women empowerment.

PROUD TO BE FILIPINO

I am proud to be a Filipino- for having the sincerest smile even in times of adversity; for being resilient amidst many changes; for valuing family and relationships; for seeking belief during seemingly dark hours, always seeing light at the end of everything.

A Filipino journeys to foreign soil in search of green pastures. What his beloved country fails to deliver, he tends to find beyond his own shores. Yet, a Filipino never forgets. A Filipino will always yearn to go back home.

I am proud for in a Filipino’s mind resides both experience and wisdom. He values education, studies life less its pretensions. Children of poverty most Filipinos are, but dreams remain. It rarely fades as we work our way with ambition. I see this trait in many of us- how we speak not with words but with compassion. How we write merely not in letters but in vivid expression.

A Filipino’s heart is that of a mother- unconditionally nurturing. We love our people and care as if relating with our souls. We can protect and defend the weak, help those in need. Be it a brawl with losing ends, true Filipinos defer surrenders. We are loyal to friends and contend foes but are never too wary of strangers. I am proud to be a Filipino as we take pride in honor and selflessness.

I speak in a strange tongue as if conversing not in a Filipino way but I am doing so for I know what we are capable of doing…achieving. As we go beyond our nation’s realm, we prepare ourselves thinking how being a Filipino means competence and worldliness. We are like wandering fireflies, eager to discover different places yet emit the very Filipino light all the same.

to have and to hold...

To have what we want...to cherish whoever we love...should be the rightest thing.
We are meant to live and have someone...who simply loves us for who we are.
Neither letters nor words can make us see love, for what it is...
It is always the heart that speaks...

"I love you"... regardless of how many times said will always feel different.
Each time such is uttered- we feel the warmth and sincerity, gracing us with this complete sanity of feeling the greatest emotion...we dare to know.

Have no regrets.

"It ain't true that love is unselfish...for it is.
It ain't true that selfish love is unreal...for it can be."

To have is to hold close the fire ...
To hold is to take each moment and make each day count...

Baby Quotes...

"If loving you depends on time spent, I'd be willing to spend forever.
If loving you depends on fate, I'd be willing to defy what destiny meant."


Love is the greatest equalizer. It goes beyond color, age, and even time. It makes every futile move meaningful as it deals with one's emotions. It gives life to those who have eluded hope. Brings reason to every illogical thought...

Many have decided to love using their hearts way over their minds. No one can ever put the blame to those who did as we knew very well how we love- we are baring our selves in light of public scrutiny; exposing our weaknesses to these jaundiced eyes. Yet, we still dare to feel and love.

It could be true how love works supposedly as a game, where only the strong-willed fits in. That there is no guarantee of winning unless finding someone who simply loves you back. But we keep on playing - all because loving brings us the greatest joy our hearts would always care to find.

Baby Quotes...

"Each day passes but never is my affection; the passion grows but not my inhibitions. If loving you means wading in a pool of lowly lows...I'd rather drown than breathe life without your own."

“SHE GOT MAIL”

It was months after she resumed her job as a freelance writer. Been updating contacts; checking her email. As she rummaged through the stacks of paper in front her, Jenna has never imagined finding this one letter that will change her life…and love forever.

It was half past nine and coffee is the only thing keeping Jenna fully awake. In her hand is a pretty neat, white envelope bearing a not-so-unfamiliar name. “This should be him. But how did he..?” Jenna felt, her fingers could not manage to rip or tear a part of it, minding its’ detail inch by inch. “Here goes nothing…,” Jenna thought. First there was the scent of this light-colored stationery, she scanned it seeing the loops and dots all known to be someone else’s handwriting- Francis’.

Francis Cruz. The boy who caught Jenna’s heart a long time ago; the apple of her and her best friend’s eyes too. As she carefully read everything, she suddenly recalled the days when she would speak of him not to everyone but to herself. Wishing at the back of her mind, the endless what-ifs and could’ve been, pretending all the while as this ever loyal friend giving way to a blossoming young love back then. Until that fateful night came…

Gina, her best friend came to her dorm rushing. She was crying and Jenna knew all along- Francis just broke up with her. Gina had been saying things, how it all happened, how he decided to end it anyway. How he said Gina wasn’t the right girl; how he liked someone else. Jenna pretended to just hear but somehow felt guilty. For she knew very well who the woman Francis is talking about…it was Jenna herself.

“Damn it! How could he?! Does he know what I sacrificed for him? I’ve been trying to please him the best way I can. Am I not enough?! Tell me Jen, what’s wrong with me?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with you…nothing.”

If only she had the courage to tell how Francis told her everything the night before. If only she said no then Gina wouldn’t be like this and all is well for sure. But she loves him…way before Gina came…ever since when? Only Jenna knows.

It was a love so unexpected. It was an affair that lasted alongside her best friend’s. It wasn’t right but Jenna can’t refuse, how could she? If her happiness seems to be hers too, sharing a love that is painful for her yet undeniable.

But some secrets are meant to be known. One of them is the love she and Francis have been sharing for nearly six months. Gina never hesitated confronting her, saying the meanest and hurtful words friends wouldn’t dare to. She kept silent…taking it all as if it was her fault…and so she decided to end whatever there is between her and Francis. All said in a letter, no personal meetings whatsoever.

As she finished reading, memories came to her as if it happened just yesterday. The lack of closure, as well as the many unanswered questions, but this time it’s different. Francis is back and Jenna knew guilt is something she won’t bear this time.

Four years had passed. Gina never trusted her again. Francis went on living his life. And Jenna, remained a hopeless romantic, searching for the love she knew she will never find.

If there is something about that letter, it is more than enough for her. Inside is the love that was once raw but real, a love that brought her back both the memories and wonder. Jenna is fully awake now, not because of caffeine but because on the next few days…there is one flight worth-waiting.

in my mind...

Today started out typically the same. I woke up, drank coffee and ate my brunch, did some emailing then did my laundry. As it went out, I started receiving messages- inspirational ones from friends. And then I asked, "these all started out as thoughts from people...rhythmic lines of womanly and manly souls."

Yes, we often ignore or not pay attention to these messages, the forwarded ones. I was one of those. My friend Roel even knew how I ignored forwarded texts, for normally my thinking runs like this- if you want to check out on me, see if I'm okay, why not ask me straight?

But now, thinking of how forwarded messages come to life, I started appreciating each if not the person sending it. It's his/her way of saying hi. An expression of kindness and thought. A manner of showing how one gives importance to you...that he/she just wanted to let you know how you are still remembered...valued. Of course, there are those who picked it up out of habit. But what the heck? The fact that they invested their humbly peso means something after all. That such is well- spent on behalf of a friend,who may or may not react to it, yet knows you're there.

"Words are like leaves,
You say and utter them like flowing breaths of air.
They fall and could vanish before you know it,
But the meaning stays like imprints of time bared."

my thoughts for the day...

For quite some time, I have been wondering about how I fared in life these past years. I was once a dreamer, an idealist, always seeing things based on how I envision them to be. Seeking purpose in each day...overwhelming myself with the vastness of the world, overlooking the dreadful thought of realism.

Now...I have found myself still dreaming. Living in a life with all its' imperfections. Seeking love that is too daunting... I have left years ago with a courageous heart just to feel the rawness of emotions after.

New year, new dreams.
New life, new bliss.
Be armed with perception so real...
As it will leave you breathless, still.

Women: age 30 and up

For us women, age is never just a number. For instance, 7 means proper schooling; 12 is like the end of grade school; 16 is being in 4th year high school and 18 means one's entry to womanhood.
We associate our age usually with our life events, important happenings which create for us all those lovely memories. But what it is with age that women tend to fear? Do we really have to think that getting a year older means diminution in our physicality? Does it really have to be a negative thing? How about "embracing aging gracefully"? Besides, the no. of years we already spent in life means more than just losing one's fair or beauty.

Always keep a positive mind. Be healthy both in spirit and heart. It will help you outgrow insecurities and negate pessimism in our daily living. I must admit that I was a pessimist most of my life, yet it is only when I reached my late 20's when I finally realized LIFE AS A SPRING OF HOPE AND LOVE.

Leaving no stone unturned...

Today, i have received a great news! I finally have the chance to see if i can really write and be a writer! I have been relying on friends who keep on telling me that my writing is good. Of course, i want to believe them but the truth of the matter is- i don't.
I think it has something to do with the fact that i've written so many works,as in essays,articles and none of which have been read by many, in fact, no one from my immediate family knows that i do write. Fear of rejection- i think, is my enemy. My sense of insecurity always denies me the pleasure to believe and have faith in myself. But for years now, i am still pursuing my interest.
When i got married, i became a stay-at-home wife, and have not worked since. For seven years, i have been writing about almost anything and i keep each paper,folded and hidden. At a time when frustration got the best of me, i got rid of them all and have it burnt. Sad but true, that sometimes, the most important things have to be sacrificed just because i have not had the courage to stay true to myself.
But now, it's different. After my grandfather's demise, i have told myself that living my life means putting everything else in proper perspective- that i will try to be a better person; be more considerate of others; believe that change need not to be fearing nor gruesome but welcoming. And by the time i sent that very email, i knew that there is no turning back.
At this point, i still remember that day when a friend and I adapted the phrase- "believe in yourself". Yes, simple but life-changing.

"Pagtangis"

Sa pusong labis na balot ng lungkot,
Yaring hinagpis mariing bumabalot,
Mga luhang wangis ay tuyong talulot,
Sa nagdaang panahon, wari'y pahintulot.

Ang mga pusong hanap ay kabigkis,
Sa mga naulila, tanikala ang kaparis.
Hangad na pangako, di tuluyang bumalik,
Sa isang naghihintay, na bigong umiibig.

Sa pisngi ng kalahatan, may ilog na tumatangis,
Karimlan ay dusa sa kapalarang malupit.
Panahong lumipas, tila araw na sumilip,
Nagbabagang lungkot ang tanging alumpihit.

my first...

In life, we opt to decide on a lot of things- career, personal life, purpose. But each day presents a list of possibilities. We can decide when to start something new or to be satisfied with what we have presently.
I created this blog so i can finally do my first love- writing. When i was in school, my friends thought that i have this gift of gab.I can easily converse and speak what's in my mind. Yet, my own issues prevented me from pursuing writing as i content myself with writing journals for my own seeing. I have seen people who write and have their own blogs, i want to really emulate them and initiate it myself. I guess, after a long reprieve, i've decided to break my silence and take on the challenge to finally be heard through my words. A wonderful feeling indeed!