The Hand that Rocks the Cradle … is the Hand that Rules the World

My journey into this community of women worldwide (Pulse World) was something beyond me. I never expected this because I didn’t see the need. I grew up in a family where my father cooked our food, cleaned our house and washed our clothes while my mother tended to us, seven siblings coming close one after the other. There is not much concern in my community on women, either, because I live in a society where women brush elbows with men in all walks of life. In truth, my real awakening on the urgency and importance of women empowerment really took place here at PulseWorld. As I browsed through the testimonies of my online sisters, I realized with guilt and concern how lucky I am, and for the first time, I considered with seriousness how I could possibly contribute to make this world a better place for women.

While it is true that we Filipino women resent the way our history was written, we are fully aware of the nameless and faceless courageous mothers, sisters and daughters who stood their ground and struggled hard to leave a legacy of peace and freedom our people now enjoy.

It’s really ironic that in my country each time a strongman trips over, a woman comes to the rescue, tasked to carry the torch through the darkness and clear the mess, and sworn into office through the parliament of the streets – first a widow of a presidentiable (former President Corazon Aquino), and then an orphan of a past president (former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo). Both women presidents were installed into the highest office of the land through people power revolution. In the Bible, widows and orphans get special favors of care and protection from men. In the Philippines, a diversion from the Holy Book inevitably and amazingly made immense sense.

My career path led me to the corporate world where the powers and influence of women were not questioned. Not until I joined public service through the government’s peace process did I realize how important it is to look around and see how much have been wasted in humanity because of the marginalization of women. Even then, a lot of mothers, sisters and daughters who are professionals have to leave their loved ones to work abroad as entertainers, baby-sitters, caregivers and domestic helpers, simply because employment opportunities for women are very limited and limiting. Women providers are very common in my country – and yet the economic value of their capabilities, skills, struggles and pursuits as well as their full potentials are so much underrated and overlooked.

It didn’t take me much to consider I want to be a Voices of Our Future Correspondent. I know I can contribute in some small measure in the pursuit of women empowerment worldwide, executing God’s plan into perfection – as someone who have seen and experienced how woman power works. With all the other women, I will be able to draw out my greatest potentials and join hands to seal our plural appointment with destiny. We are destined for a durable, genuine and equitable womanhood and we know together we can make it. We will learn from each other and pool ourselves into a powerful support system as we forge our steadfast commitment to women solidarity and empowerment as well as gender sensitivity. This is the initial step for the big leap to women empowerment worldwide. We will be exchanging notes and sharing experiences, news, encouragements, reasons and visions. We will be there for each other, some pulling those who are behind and beneath while others pushing those who are up and ahead and making headway. We will raise our voices loud and clear. We will get going, we will prevail, and we will succeed because we have each other.

Women power. We have it. We Live it. We must use it to bring God’s work into completion. Women have the amazing magic touch that have nurtured the male specie into heroes, kings and leaders since time immemorial. If women can deliver power to this world, we have the source of power within us. After all, the hand that rocks the cradle of the ruler is the one that rules the world!