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A Filipina in Today’s Society


(Just last week, while uploading my post for Filipina Images dot com, an empowering Filipina website, I have stumbled upon the post of Ms. Leah Cantos, another proud Pinay, on her Contest for Filipinas with blogs. It is open to all Filipina bloggers residing in the Philippines. How to enter the contest? Blog about how you as a Filipina, achieved your goals for the past year and your plans for 2008. Here’s my entry for this contest.)

It’s a well known fact that the Filipinas of today are far different from the traditional Filipinas in the earlier period. Being a pinay myself, I am thankful for all those fearless Filipinas in our history who valiantly fought against the society’s narrow concept on women particularly on the issues of our rights, responsibilities and capacities.

Today, to my delight, our country is already inundated with empowered Filipinas. We are now free to obtain an education, plan and have our own career and fight for ideals and principles that we believe in. Although there still exist tapered dogma on our gender from the conservative and conformist sector of our society, everyday, more women are enlightened and refuting abuses and violence against them.

Today, I am celebrating my being a proud Filipina and let me share with you my accomplishments last year as an empowered pinay juggling different roles in life:

  • As a Mother. I now have a pre-school student! Some may say “it’s only pre-school, no big deal.” For me, it’s indeed big deal. I am a first-time mom and everything that my son does delight me. I take pride being able to send my son to school and feed him and clothe him and everything else.
  • As a Wife. My marriage was not a perfect one like all others. My husband and I have a lot of differences and only few commonalities. Last year, our 5-year old marriage was tested with a lot of temptations and difficulties. With our God’s grace, our relationship was saved by these wonderful character traits of a Filipina — genuine and devoted love for family, patience and fortitude, charm and thoughtfulness and faith in God.
  • As a Family. I may not be the perfect daughter, the perfect sister nor the perfect aunt, but I have the perfect desire to help my family. My idea of helping is different too, I’m not the spoiler type of family member who define helping by giving money or buying gifts. What I often think about is how I would be able to provide permanent and long-time opportunity for my siblings and pamangkins [nieces and nephews] so they would learn how to become self-sufficient and directors of their own life. I hate seeing people who always cry help and shout damnation to the government and others who are not involved in their lives simply because there must be “others” to blame for their miseries. I hate seeing poverty-stricken families with a lot of children not minding how they would be able to provide a decent life for their family with their unstable and below minimum wage income. I wanted to see more people with high regards for self-responsibility. People who lead and manage their life and not blame others for their mistakes. I wanted my family to be people with dignity and self-respect. I am helping them become that way.
  • As a Career Woman. More and more, I am ascending towards proving my worth as a career professional. Through my job as a trainer/facilitator, I am able to help support our family’s finances but more than that, my job provide me the opportunity of affecting lives and helping people and organizations realize and improve their character and their competencies and potentials. I may not be highly paid but I take pride in doing my job well. I take pride in maintaining my conscience and not staining my ideals and principles.
  • As a Lifelong Learner. Just last year, I have decided to finally maximize my time and opportunity for continuing education. I have always loved learning. Unlike others, I find going to school and attending seminars and trainings stimulating, prolific, and imperative. I find solace in attending my classes and training sessions. While others, especially the young people, think of studying as stressful, I find it otherwise. Right now, I’m on way of becoming a certified educator and then hopefully, a special education teacher, and then… I’m planning of getting a degree in a lot of fields. I’m a certified lifelong learner and I’m enjoying every bit of being one like all other educated Filipinas.
  • As a Member of the Community. Having an overwhelming passion for my city, Marikina, I have always been involved with different projects and programs for the betterment of my community. And before the end of the year, I took a big leap and put this blog on Marikina to inform more people about my beloved hometown. I am not paid in any way by Marikina for this site, this is among my contributions to promote more our city and share the good news to everyone else that there exist good governance somewhere and there is hope for our country.

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    Filipinas are truly amazing. Once they set their eyes on their goals, nothing would be able to stop them. I need not be a powerful, rich or popular Filipina to impact lives and change society and culture, but in my own ways, I know in my heart that I am affecting lives. Hopefully, 2008 will be a better year… A year where we would be able to help more and redirect more lives for the better. After all, I’m a Filipina.

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    • This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    1. #1 by myglitch on January 20th, 2008

      Hi, Mhel. I salute you for promoting Marikina, the only blog I know who truly loves her municipality.

      Anyway, just want to inform you that you’ve been tagged.

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    2. #2 by sugarplum fairy on January 20th, 2008

      hi mhel,

      what a wonderful post. Truly inspiring! Hats off!
      Achievements need not be headliners in the TV news and broadsheets, menial things that positively impact people who are close to us, our family, relatives and our community are the best achievements one can have.
      Congratulations! You win the Belle de Jour power Planner!
      P.S. Please post this entry in the FilipinaImages as well.

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    3. #3 by mhel on January 20th, 2008

      @myglitch…

      thanks so much sis! naku… will visit that tag! thanks for informing me!

      @sugarplum fairy…

      Oh my!!! Wow! Thanks so much sis!!! will post this at filipina images. :D

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    4. #4 by noemi on January 20th, 2008

      congrats Mhel. You’re an inspiring writer that I’ve subscribed to your feed.

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    5. #5 by mhel on January 21st, 2008

      thanks so much sis… coming from you, I take that comment as sincere and very heartwarming.

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    6. #6 by Cuatro Cantos on January 26th, 2008

      Hi there. Congratulations!!! Do you have the planner already? It’s sweet, isn’t it? Palit tayo. sakin na lang yan, sayo tong starbucks ko. hehe…

      btw I am Sugarplum fairy’s wife. este. She’s my husband pala. :p

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    7. #7 by mhel on January 26th, 2008

      cuatro cantos…

      Hi! Got the BDJ Planner already and I’m so happy with it!!! It’s indeed “kikay.” :D

      “Palit tayo. sakin na lang yan, sayo tong starbucks ko. hehe… ” Naku di mo cnv agad, sobrang excited ko, pinagsususlatan ko na!

      “btw I am Sugarplum fairy’s wife. este. She’s my husband pala. :p” UHmm.. I’m confused…?

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    8. #8 by Cuatro Cantos on January 28th, 2008

      “btw I am Sugarplum fairy’s wife. este. She’s my husband pala. :p”
      haha… it’s just a joke I learned from someone. :P

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    9. #9 by mhel on January 28th, 2008

      oh okay… hahaha… im sorry sis, slow ako hehehe… :D

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    10. #10 by Cuatro Cantos on January 30th, 2008

      haha.. now i know why you didn’t get it. you thought I was sugarplum fairy… :P

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