Only in San Francisco — and my heart skips a beat whenever I hear about a social cause a San Francisco Bay Area resident is advocating for. Take Edna Flores and her “bike for a cause” commitment every year, for example. Edna is one young Filipina American professional whose athletic activities always take my breath away. I met her a few years ago at a Filipina Women’s Network event so we promised to stay in touch. Whenever I received her email every year about her fundraising causes, it somehow stuck, you know. Just like they say in advertising, “top-of-mind.”

This time, I asked Edna who authored her fundraising letter. In my work as a messaging specialist, I understand the value of my emotional response to the spoken and written word. This time, what caught my attention was the subject of the email: RED DRESS.

Edna replied, “I totally wrote this letter as a fundraising appeal for AIDS/LifeCycle. I give you permission to reprint it.”

Let’s learn a thing or two from this remarkable Filipina woman of substance.

From: Edna Flores
Date: Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:35 PM
Subject: Red dress
To: Lorna Dietz

Dear Lorna,

Fifty two more days from now, I will be taking off with my fiance Rich and thousands of other friends on a seven day, 575 mile journey towards Los Angeles from San Francisco. We will be using our strength and legpower to get there. Along the way, we will encounter communities who may have minimal services for fighting the AIDS pandemic. We will make lifetime friends with those whom we just met. We will be a community of cyclists making a stand against HIV and AIDS.

Some of you may or may not know that I made a little bet with Rich at the beginning of the year. I told him that if I raised $5,000, he would have to wear a red dress on Red Dress Day. Some of you may wonder and scratch your heads in thinking, “What is Red Dress Day?” and “Why would Edna want to make Rich wear a red dress?”

Red Dress Day occurs on Day 5 of AIDS/ LifeCycle. People either wear red as Rich has done in the past or wear a red dress. I think the original intent was Dress in Red Day but it has turned into Red Dress Day. A lot of people go out of their way in finding a sexy or pretty or sometimes frumpy red dress to wear as they pedal their way down California. If one were to take an aerial photograph, it would look like a long AIDS ribbon winding down the state. Usually the straight men would not even think of wearing a red dress their first year of riding. By the second year, they are in on the fun of wearing a red dress. For the past two rides, Rich has been reluctant to wear a red dress but he is willing to do it if I am to make my fundraising goal.

I am a little under $1,000 of making the minimum $3,000 I need to particpate in this ride. Please consider giving whatever amount you can. No donation is too small or too large. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and loved ones as well. I promise to have a photograph of Rich in his red dress (which I already have in my hot little hands) to show for my fundraising efforts.

Thank you so much in helping me support the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Your generosity gives critical help to those who need it in preventing the spread of HIV and those who are affected by HIV and AIDS.

All you need to do to help me out is to click on the link below and give what you can.

Again, thank you.
Click here to visit my personal page.

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www.tofighthiv.org/site/TR/AIDSLIFECYCLE9/AIDSLifeCycleCenter?px=1168574&pg=personal&fr_id=1210&et=pUXnjR3U11z6kezkqtOs9g..&s_tafId=21160

If you no longer wish to receive email messages sent from your friends on behalf of this organization, please click here or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.tofighthiv.org/site/TellFriendOpt?action=optout&toe=233a77653886a6701bda817bc2a6a89a1ccd4c50a5c00593

Tags: Lorna Dietz, Lorna Lardizabal Dietz

Part 1 of 3
What makes a Filipina? -Breaking out of the entrenched stereotype

Over the years, Filipinas working overseas have been greatly stereotyped and put in a negative light. This documentary follows a collective group of global Filipinas who have been deeply affected by these issues and how they chose to respond by sharing the positivity, and the advocacy of a common mission — uplifting the morale of Filipinas everywhere.

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Tags: The Empowered Filipina, The Filipina

By Dine Racoma and Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

It must have been the year 2007 when Dine and I first met Mrs. Esther Asuncion Vibal during the launch of Wikipilipinas.org or was it the joint project with Filipinaimages.com and WikiPilipinas. These days, I often see her at the cafeteria during my weekly visit at the Vibal Publishing house where I hold office once a week. And yes, I’m proud to be part of the Vibal Foundation as features editor of the Philippine Online Chronicles . I am amazed that she takes an active role with the management of Vibal Publishing House. I tell my husband that I want to be like Mrs Vibal, still sharp even at 85 years old (She turns 85 on March 25). She starts work at 7:30 AM and I can’t even imagine waking up at that time. I wonder what her secret is but maybe taking a peak at her life explains this.

Dine Racoma and I believe that her life is worth sharing here at Filipina Images.

Here is a profile of a woman we both admire.

Mrs. Esther Asuncion Vibal is a woman of many talents and accomplishments. It is difficult to describe this multi-awarded lady under one label as she has achieved and contributed so much throughout her life. Success seems to follow her wherever she goes and whatever she applies herself to.

From her humble beginnings in Camiling, Tarlac, Mrs. Vibal has relentlessly pursued her love of writing and learning to become an accomplished writer, publisher, educator, businesswoman, feminist and philanthropist. Born on March 25, 1925, Mrs. Vibal’s life is an example of how hard work, perseverance and a strong faith in God can lead one to tremendous success. She is a Journalism graduate of the University of the Philippines and started with the Manila Times and later ventured into publishing and real estate with her husband.
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Tags: Esther Asuncion Vibal

March 8, 2010 is International Women’s Day, “a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900’s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.”

For the Filipina who wakes up early in the morning to prepare for the food she will sell at a community market in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City, or for the Filipina mom blogger who takes the time to write about her passions before she starts her day, and for countless Filipina women who are toiling in farm lands, factories, hospitals, offices, or homes around the world — this is A VERY ORDINARY DAY.

“International Women’s Day” hasn’t really caught up with the sugar-dripping greeting cards for “Mother’s Day” or “Valentine’s Day.” Yet, there are a few companies that are positive about the future of a more commercialized “Women’s Day.”

Celebrating this ordinary day allows us to take our virtual stethoscopes and feel the heartbeats of Filipina women and men who support a political party in the Philippines that is “for women, by women, and of women.”

The Facebook description stated: “If elected, BABAE KA could make a difference by bringing direct services to its constituents at the grassroots level, and mobilizing the women sector in productive and constructive activities that would contribute to nation building and development.”

The phrase “Babae Ka!” a.k.a. “You are Woman!” or “You are a Filipina Woman!” sounds like a “Stand up and be counted!” battle cry. Perhaps it is. Reminiscent of Helen Reddy’s warrior song, “I am Woman!” — the call for Filipina women everywhere to celebrate their dignity, their pride, and their leadership is truly compelling.

Benjamin Pimentel, a Filipino American journalist from the San Francisco Bay Area, serendipitously posted a Youtube video today of the late Susan Fernandez Magno, a Filipina singer-songwriter, activist and academic who was “top-of-mind” for her protest music. The song had a folksy beat and bittersweet, poignant lyrics. The song’s title: “Babae Ka.”

Yesterday, over the phone, when I listened to a dear friend’s experiences as a volunteer in this for-real grassroots campaign among the Filipina street vendors, homemakers, students, and community organizers for “Babae Ka,” a women’s political party in the Philippines that is participating in the party-list election system, I was in awe of her bravery and courage. My friend confirmed that people in the cash-strapped barangays (villages) in the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines were savvy about asking for money to ensure their loyalty and their votes. However, their group’s valiant stand against vote-buying won the hearts of very ordinary people, very ordinary voters. I was touched by the email she sent me so I could, in turn, email my friends. My friend emphasized, “Contact us through Facebook at BABAE KA.”

I continued to read what they had to say in their Facebook group page.

“Babae para sa Kaunlaran or BABAE KA has evolved from being a cause-oriented civil society organization at the time it was organized in early 2005 to a comprehensive women’s political party.

Initially named as Kababaihan para sa Inang Bayan or Kababayan, the organization first focused its efforts in the delivery of basic services to poor and needy communities thru medical and dental missions, livelihood projects, skills trainings, counseling, social and political awareness discussions and similar socially relevant programs.

The decision to convert the organization into a women’s political party and participate in the party-list election system stemmed from the realization that the sector needs genuine representation in the House of Representatives with the foremost aim of helping stir the country towards attainable progress and development.”

Taking a cue from the flier about the Babae Ka platform that I received via email, their “pet bill” on Equal Employment Opportunity was something I had been waiting for.

Equal Employment Opportunity, BABAE KA’s pet bill
By BABAE KA Partylist (from Mielin Medalla)

If you are a woman or a man and looking for a job, you will always see in the advertisements, “female, 20 to 35 years old” or “male, 25 to 40 years old” as one of the qualifications. Not anymore, that is if the proposal of women’s party-list Babae para sa Kaunlaran (Babae Ka) will be enacted by the 14th Congress of the Philippines.

This proposed law will make it unlawful for any employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s age, gender and religion.

To be patterned after the Age Discrimination in Employment of 1967 that was enacted by the United States Congress, even the printing of any employment advertisement that will tend to be discriminatory to age, sex and religion shall be unlawful in this proposal.

I understand that there are many party lists that are jockeying for more funding, more supporters, and more visibility. If you’re a group like Babae Ka who is doing its best to be involved with issues, not personalities, then you have my attention.

Mabuhay, Babae Ka!

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