Mothers and Mother Nature

By Raqueza Lalangan

MARCH is not only the month for school graduations here in the Philippines, but also for recognizing the contributions and abilities of our women in society.

Three laws – passed during the incumbency of our two women Presidents, the late Corazon C. Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (not many countries have had women leaders and we’ve had two!) – cover the special honor we give our women: Proclamation No. 227 declaring the month of March as “Women’s Role in History Month”, Proclamation No. 744 designating the last Monday of March each year as “Women with Disabilities Day”, and Republic Act 6949 or the “Women in Development and Nation Building Act” assigning March 8 every year as “National Women’s Day”, a Special Working Holiday.

I proudly say that Filipinas are intelligent, talented, and hardworking. And they do play big roles in almost any sector – government, business, civil society, academe, and of course, in the home.

The very first Filipina I admire is, of course, my mother. Whenever she’s beside me, I feel that everything will be alright no matter how bad the situation is. My family’s economic status when I was in high school was below the poverty line so there were times when we really did not have even a peso. Lumulusong siya sa malamig at mataas na baha noon kahit na umaga pa lang para lang umutang sa kapitbahay ng pamasahe ko para makapasok ako sa paaralan.

I am recalling this especially with this year’s theme for National Women’s Month Celebration’s which is “Women Weathering Climate Change: Governance and Accountability, Everyone’s Responsibility”. This theme emphasizes the role of women as a potent actor of change, especially in times of disasters. We must also remember how vulnerable our women are in time of calamities. We need our women to be among the leaders for pushing for the protection of Mother Nature.

I also esteem our women vendors, particularly the vendors of tinapa, the main product in our barangay. I always see these vendors in Calasiao and also in Dagupan, day or night, sunshine or rain, because they want to give education to their children and also to help their husbands in supporting the family.

I also respect those women who do not abort their pregnancy despite the pressures thrown on them, particularly if they are victims of rape, or have an unwanted and early pregnancy, and by poverty.

Today’s Filipinas are fortunate because their role in society is recognized and we have laws like the Magna Carta of Women as well as groups that champion their cause such as Gabriela. But many challenges still face them and there are still many cases of violence inflicted on women. And so we have to stay vigilant and keep pushing for the rights and protection of our women, they are our grandmothers, mothers, aunties, daughters and sisters.

In times of disaster or not, the month of March or not, let’s salute our women. Go girl power!

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