By Farah G. Decano

 

I happened to be one of those who brainstormed about what the Leni Robredo Pangasinan rally should be like.  The legend of Urduja immediately came to mind.  According to oral folktales, she was a female warrior of Pangasinan who protected her kingdom from the sea thief, Limahong.

Despite the seeming parallelism between VP Leni Robredo and the Pangasinan warrior princess, I received mixed reactions.  While the middle-aged Pangasinenses appreciated the suggestion, the younger ones in the team hesitated because allegedly her existence was not proven and that very few people know her.

I was astounded.  How can they not know Urduja?  How could we reject something that is distinctly Pangasinan?  Shouldn’t we feel lucky that we have this old narrative that others cannot claim?  If the Ilocanos have Lam-Ang; Negros, Laon; and Laguna, Maria Makiling; Pangasinan should take pride in our own Urduja.  Unlike these fictional and literary figures, the character of Urduja had shades of reality.  Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta wrote in detail about his personal encounter with the warrior princess in 1345. Jose Rizal and his biographer, Austin Craig, also retold her story.

It may not do justice to Urduja to refer to her as a mere fiction.  Better to consider her as an icon of strength and courage whose existence has not satisfactorily complied with the requirements of scientific evidence.  At best, Urduja is real in the consciousness of several Pangasinan generations.  To silence her narrative is similar to killing a part of us and denying our ancestry.

It is interesting to note that according to Pangasinan Historical Commission member, Gie Pasalo, women in the coastal parts of our province during the Spanish times were shipbuilders.  They probably had lean muscular bodies.  Some anthropologists claimed that Pangasinan women enjoy equal status with men.  They were not restricted by many scruples and they had the exclusive right to name their children.

Then the Spaniards came.  Suddenly, there was nationwide suppression of old Filipino values.  They were told to be less decisive, less participatory and less aggressive. Women took a secondary role to men.  Femininity became synonymous to subservience, obedience and martyrdom.

Who knows?  Maybe Urduja was real.  Maybe she is not.  That she remains a part of our provincial and national consciousness may be the product of our foremothers’ yearning and seeking to recapture the equality they once enjoyed.

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The people’s rally in Pangasinan for VP Leni on April 8, 2022 was organized by the 1 Pangasinan People’s Council, a federation of various volunteer groups for the Vice President and Senator Kiko.  The Urduja tableau that came before the entrance of VP Leni Robredo was brilliantly conceptualized.  I credit Constance Visperas for standing his ground in the use of Urduja and for the artistic execution of the show.  

Towards the end of the cultural show, the woman portraying Urduja offered her sword to VP Leni.  It was a touching moment.  Pangasinenses knew what it meant. We entrust Pangasinan and the Philippines under her leadership.  VP Leni was proclaimed in the rally as the modern-day Urduja.

That the recent Pangasinan rally for Leni garnered 76,000 crowd cemented the claim that there is no such thing as “solid north”.  What a feat!

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