After Charice Pempengco, another Filipina may well be on her way to musical stardom. McDonald’s employee Mary Margaret Yu came back to the country triumphant last April 20 after competing in the finals night of “Voice of McDonald’s 2008” held in Orlando, Florida.

Yu bagged the second prize for the competition while the Grand Prize was won by Natércia Pintor of Portugal. The 22-year-old Davao resident and choir member took home $10,000.

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I have read two blogs that seem to misinterpret the goals of FilipinaImages.com.

Let me make it clear. FilipinaImages.com is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) project to create a balance of the “Filipina” keyword in search engine results’ pages. That’s why our tagline is called Reshaping the Filipina Image Online.

We are not out to improve or change the perception of the Filipina Image.

We believe….that

The Filipina of the Future deserves a more empowered, diverse image online.
Multiple, complex, and whole.

We don’t seek perfection. We repeat: We seek balance in the Filipina images that are available online. We share our reflections about what the Filipina of the Future could be like, too. Dignity is every person’s human right. Whether the Filipina is a mother, a nanny, a decision maker in the corporate arena, a domestic service professional (formerly known as “domestic worker”), or a mail order bride, they have the right to empower themselves — through education, through equal rights in the household and the workplace, through connecting with people who want the same — and more.

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Meet Ma. Ana Samson Betita also known as Mayen, the Filipina girlfriend that Timothy Ellis Cumper mentioned in this entry. Tim alleges that Mayen orchestrated an attempted money scam amounting to almost Php 92,213.39 thousand pesos ($2,000.00 plus) through an alleged fake ectopic pregnancy with a group of her Filipino friends from Tierra Maria Estates, Medical Center Parañaque, doctors and a lawyer of the latter, Chin Chin Gutierrez and many others including bloggers. (read the list of alleged scam artists). Tim Cumper never sent the money requested to pay for the hospital bills.

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Congratulations to the WikiPilipinas Filipina Stories Contest

1st prize: The Filipina Doctor: Coming Full Circle by Dr. Claire Francisco

2nd prize: The Evolving Beauty of a Modern Filipina by Eddie Oguing

3rd prize: The Cyber Feminization of Poverty: Mail-Order Brides and the Image of the Filipina by Genevieve Ruth Villamin

And the winner of the Ipod nano is from Netherlands. Sorry I can’t remember the entry right now.

To the winners: Please Contact mindy@wikipilipinas.org.ph for more details.

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An American questions “How does commercialization of Filipinas promote a healthy image of Filipinas?” Read Don’s entry on this topic.

My friends over in Filipina Images have been working hard for the past year to raise the image of Filipinas. By challenging the stereotypes and peeling them away one layer at a time. I applaud Filipina Images for what they are doing and I have a hunch this campaign will be successful.

It will not happen overnight but it will happen. A socially conscious blog such as Filipina Images will certainly draw it’s fair share attacks from people who wish to keep things status quo. And recently…

continue reading Filipina Dating Sites - Do They Create a Healthy Filipina Image?

I always see her standing in the middle of her garden with a long broomstick clasped in her feeble and bony hands, sometimes alone, most of the times gleefully surrounded by her apos. She was always clad with an ankle length skirt and a blouse that is less elaborate than the traditional baro. Her hair was pulled tightly in a bun and her face was wrinkled with the years that passed her by. In spite of her old age, her back was as straight as a board and her mere glance could silence the rowdy teenagers that pass by. Although, the one thing that really struck me about her was her warm and gentle smile and her presence that commands nothing less than respect and reverence. I knew her as Manang, the old lady who lives in front of my parents’ house.

Continue reading Filipina: A Woman of Character

Filipino women are stereotyped to be simple, obedient, caring, and God-fearing. That’s why it’s no big surprise when the keyword “Filipina” yields a bunch of dating websites catering specifically to men in search of Filipinas for love, friendship, and marriage. One could argue that there’s nothing wrong with using dating websites to find life partners with the qualities mentioned above. Most dating websites are legal, legitimate, and the participating Filipinas join the dating pool out of their own free will. That doesn’t discount the fact that these dating websites capitilize on the exoticized Filipina. Dating websites don’t spring out of the woodwork and match people around the world out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re a business selling products, and their products happen to be the Filipina. This essay shows how this system works by examining a dating website called Filipina Hearts.

Continue reading the entry on How Dating Websites Commodify the Filipina: A Pseudo-Case Study

Awarding of the Winners of the WikiPilipinas Filipina Stories

Date: Saturday, March 29, 2008
Time: 5:00- 6:00 PM
Venue: “Women Can’t Wait”, SMX Convention Hall # 3, SMX Convention Center, beside SM Mall of Asia, Bay Blvd., Bay City, Pasay City
Map to SMX Convention Center: Click on thumbnail

This is our tentative program for the March 28 event, 11-12nn

1. Opening Remarks
2. About Vibal Foundation
3. Empowering Women Through Internet
4. Walkthroughs: Filipiniana.net and Wikipilipinas.org and Filipinaimages.com
5. Raffle iPod Nano to contestants
6. Announcement of Winners
7. Closing

Wikipilipinas will host lunch for the contestants in a restaurant in Mall of Asia after the program.