H I S T O RY
October 2011 • Volume CII No.3
Revisiting Herstory:
Beautiful Ilongga Suffragette, The
Pura Villanueva-Kalaw
by Raniel C. Ponteras
F
ar from the patriarchal colonial template that Philippine politics have emerged from, is the vibrant, fervent, and dynamic (albeit symptomatic of capitalist crisis) current political climate that recognizes women as an integral part of the system. For that, we, as citizens of the present day, have to be thankful for one Ilongga who stood out from the pages of history to write a new narrative for women which is to be called herstory: Pura Villanueva-Kalaw, the fearless beauty from Molo who fought and lobbied for women’s suffrage rights.
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Born on the 27th of August 1886, with a delicate mix of European and Asian pedigree, taken from her Spanish mother Emilia Garcia and Filipino father Emilio Villanueva, Pura brought a new glow of hope to the �ledgling community of Molo. She started her education by attending school at Santa Ana College in Molo. To advance her schooling, she then went to attend Santa Catalina College in Manila for six months. She was at that time, 15 years of age. It didn’t take long for her to discover her �irst love: writing. In 1907, she wrote her way to the top by garnering �irst place in an essay writing contest held in Iloilo. From then on, she became fervent with her writings. She became the passionate editor of El Tiempo’s “Women’s Page”. As a journalist, the woman question greatly concerned Pura, and frequent in her articles were pro-feminist sentiments. But if in 1907 she found her �irst love, the following year, the country learned to love her. In 1908, she was crowned as the “First Carnival Queen of the Philippines” (which presently translates to Miss Philippines). But a rewind. Back to 1906. At the early age of 20, Pura harbored feminist thoughts and developed them. This became her motivation to organize the �irst ever feminist group in the Philippines, the Asociacion Feminista Ilongga Ilongga. Through this group, she was able to propagate her ideals to a much larger mass base; noting that long before 1905 she, “had started preaching the gospel of feminists: What a man can do, a woman can do as well.” In her effort to enfranchise women, Pura went to Manila, and urged Assemblyman Filemon Sotto of Cebu to pass a bill that would provide suffrage rights to women. The �irst attempt, however, was a failure – but although “gravely disappointed” this did not dishearten Pura, for she had that �iery Ilonggo heart that never allowed her to surrender. In 1912, with the aid of Mrs. Carie Chapman Catt, an Villanueva-Kalaw, Pura. How women got the vote, 1956 UP Center for Women's Studies. Women's role in Philippine history: selected essays, 2nd ed. 2001