You Can't Hide It - One Billion Rising

This post is kind of late.
But I still want to post about it.

So here it is.
We were able to join the One Billion Rising last Valentine's day!
I was running late. I couldn't leave work early, and I still had to meet up with my daughter at her school before we could go to the OBR event at T. Morato. There were Plurks on  my timeline saying that traffic was pretty bad in the area of the OBR event and there was a closed road. So I was wondering how we could get there in time.

While waiting for a cab, an "ordinary" bus stopped in front of us. We decided to go on that bus since it was one of those buses known for their fast driving. And it was! Problem was, we still had to go down a few stops away from Quezon Avenue since the bus was not going to pass that way.

It was good that we were able to flag a cab. What's more, the cab driver had just come from the T.Morato area and knew where to pass to avoid the traffic!

We made it just in time for the main event. We stayed and watched from the side. Everyone was dancing whenever the OBR song was played. No one felt tired! I was teary-eyed while watching a dominantly female crowd from different social strata and occupation, joining in the call for an end to violence against women. It was such a powerful message!

We didn't get good photos of that night. Here's our only 'good' photo:

No, we were not able to ask someone else to take our photo (especially since we were standing by the side and we were thinking there wasn't any good angle for a nice photo). It was only when we were on our way home that we belatedly noticed the posters by the side where we could have had our photo taken!

One odd thing about the OBR event was that I wasn't able to read anything about it happening in the papers the next day. Nothing! It was like something that never happened!

But you can't hide something so strong, heartfelt, and powerful forever. It will come out, one way or another.

As the song says, "Isang bilyong babae ang babangon...!"

Tribute to women

International Women's Day, celebrated during March 8, is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday.

When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

This is a day when ordinary women are remembered as part of those who made history. It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

As a tribute to all the women in my life, I will share this poem written by Lilia Quindoza Santiago (with my own translation in English --I hope it suffices):

Isang Tugon kay Elynia: Ang Pagiging Babae [In Response to Elynia: On Being a Woman

Ayaw kong isumpa ang pagiging babae I don't want to curse my being a woman
Sa panahong ito, kabarong makata, during these times, co-poetess
Kahit pa sugatan ang lahat ng sulok though wounds scar each and every corner
Ng puso ko't kaluluwa. of my heart and soul.
Ayaw kong isuko ang kayariang I don't want to give-up the identity
Ako rin ang bumubuo. that I myself carved.
Di ko ipamimigay I will not give away
Ang mumunting butil ng diwang even a small grain of consciousness
Ako rin ang bumubuhay. that I myself gave birth to.

Totoong "kasumpa-sumpa True, "to be a woman in this time of war is
ang maging babae sa panahong ito" to be cursed"
Kung panatag nating aakuin If we peacefully accept
Ang hinulmang pagkatao the image that was carved for us
Sa mga nagdaang siglo through the past centuries
Nang walang pagtangi sa sarili without arguing for our own identity
O walang pagsalungat sa pang-aapi. or without fighting against oppression.

Ngunit sa ganang akin But in my opinion,
Ang pagkababae'y marami pang kahulugan being a woman has many more meanings
Bukod sa pagtutol sa kostumbre't kaugalian than contradicting norms and customs
Ang pagiging babae'y pagkatha being a woman is creating
Ng mga tulang di pa nalilikha; poetry that has never been created;
Ang pagiging babae'y pag-awit being a woman means singing
Ng di pa naririnig songs that have never been heard
Ang pagiging babae'y pagtuklas being a woman means discovering
Ng daigdig na di pa natutuklasan, a world undiscovered as yet,
Ang pagiging babae'y paghubog being a woman means molding
Ng mundong di pa nabubuo a world not yet fully formed
Ang pagiging babae'y pagluwal being a woman means giving forth
Ng buhay na di pa nararanasan. a life that has not yet been experienced.

Ngunit higit sa lahat, ang pagiging babae'y But most of all, being a woman is
Higit pa sa lahat ng ito more than all of these
Na tayong kababaihan lamang bilang tao That only us women as people
Ang tanging makakatanto. can truly understand. ]