Another filipina who has gained news coverage is Baicon Macaraya, who is enthroned as Queen for helping the poor of her war-torn hometown, Marawi City. She gave up her career to help her people. From providing pans to reconstructing houses, she and her organization has done. Read more about her in Inquirer.

There are a lot of Filipinas out there with a good heart. And she is just one of many.

I have mention Ophelia A. Belo in my previous post and as a continuation of that post, here’s her valedictory address from GMANews.

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Thank you GMANews for another article from Sunstar about Ophelia A. Belo.  She was a DH but set her sights more on just being a DH.  I loved her message,  we all know we export a lot of human labor.  And through time, OFW kids just lose interest in school just to go abroad and get any job that they could put their hands on.  This is quite a disturbing trend.  And Ms. Belo is struck a nerve when she asked, What happened to the ‘Pearl of the Orient Seas’?

I do agree with her messages:  1)  Never stop learning; 2) Do not squander OFW money; 3) Stop repeating the same mistakes.  I share the same sentiments as hers, especially that I always got to read about the trend in our culture that we no longer care about our education because there are call center jobs that don’t require a college degree or a job waiting for you abroad as a janitor.  Let’s start being the ‘Pearl of the Orient Seas’ again.   Thank you Ms. Belo, you’re one of the few courageous people who would open our eyes.

Last month, I wrote an article in my blog about fighting exploitation through common sense, especially, exploitation of our women. And this post is around the similar train of thought. Since I don’t have TFC (The Filipino Channel) here in California, I usually browse GMANews about issues and news from the Philippines. I’d go to their section called Pinoy Abroad, the category is self-explanatory. I usually read letters from OFWs or migrant workers about the life away from the Philippines, and on the same page, I also read news about Filipinos all over the globe. It’s not rare that there are articles every now and then that are about exploited workers or women by illegal recruiters, foreign fiancés, or employers. I have nothing against people who want to risk their lives for a better future, but there’s a difference between risking and taking a calculated risk.

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I’ve seriously thought about what and how it is to be a Filipina, and the stereotype always comes into my mind. The ideal image of the Filipino woman is Maria Clara. She symbolizes beauty, grace, simplicity and obedience. Growing up, I usually hear the term Maria Clara but never dug deep to its history. To those who do not know, Maria Clara is a character symbolizing the perfect Filipina created by Jose Rizal, our national hero, in Noli Me Tangere. Please correct me if I’m wrong. In my school, an all girls Catholic high school, the teachers promoted good behavior and obedience to God, family and school. When I say good behavior, I mean, “follow orders or get lost”. In my small town of Bacolod City, there wasn’t much diversity. Your actions and words are dictated to you by family and society. It wasn’t until I left my home to work abroad that I felt empowered.

Let’s go back to being a Maria Clara, many Filipino men prefer Maria Clara type of girls. These are the type of girls that they can introduce to their mothers without society raising an eyebrow. In a Catholic society of like ours, we are usually conservative in our ways, and being the Maria Clara type often solves problems. Why men prefer a Maria Clara type of woman, I only gave you my theory. And like the rest of you, I can only guess.

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