March is a time to celebrate women’s incredible achievements, contributions, and resilience all around the world. In this day and age, it is not unbeknownst to many how far women have come and how much they’ve contributed to our progress. But women have not always been recognized for their work. In many cases in history, appreciation for women’s contributions come way after their time.
In the Philippines, we honor several women whose life’s work made a difference in the trajectory of our history by naming streets after them, ensuring their legacies live on in our everyday lives, and that their contributions are duly remembered.
1. Tandang Sora Avenue
Melchora Aquino, better known as “Tandang Sora”, served as refuge to those who fought the Katipunan Revolution. She is considered as the “Mother of the Philippine Revolution” and “Mother of Balintawak”. Starting as a trusted adviser to Andres Bonifacio, the Katipunan founder, she helped organize meetings and held them at her home in Barrio Banlat. When war was declared by Bonifacio after the Katipunan was discovered by the Spaniards, she welcomed the wounded Katipuneros with open arms, providing food, medical care, and her own home to wounded Katipuneros. She was exiled to Guam by the Spanish authorities when she refused to cooperate during interrogations after she was arrested by the Guardia Civil. She was only allowed to return to the country after the Philippine American war was declared over. Despite her old age, she still supported the fight for independence. She died at the age 107 in her daughter’s home and was buried in the Manila North Cemetery.
After Quezon City was established in 1939, the name “Tandang Sora Avenue” was designated. The street runs through areas historically connected to her life, including Barangay Tandang Sora, where she was born.
Her bravery and loyalty to the country is one to aspire to have. As a woman in her time, it could not have been easy to stand her ground, we were under a foreign rule and women were not viewed as they are today, yet she did.
2. Aurora Blvd
Doña Aurora Antonia Molina Aragón Quezón, better known as Doña Aurora, the first woman to ever be named as the “first lady” in the Philippines, wife to President Manuel Quezón, was recognized for her humanitarian work, particularly in the fields of social welfare and women’s rights. In the two terms President Quezon reigned over the country, Doña Aurora stayed in the backdrop, working with various humanitarian organizations, namely the National Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, and orphanages Associación de Damas Filipinas and White Cross.
When the Japanese invaded the country in 1941, her family was one of the many families that were sheltered and taking fortress in Corregidor for two intense months of fighting. As they were, Doña Aurora would come to aid the wounded soldiers. When the Quezons were brought to Australia and New York, USA, the late president died of tuberculosis. As she awaits her return to the country, Doña Aurora along with her daughters, volunteered as nurses in the Red Cross in California. This sparked her inspiration in establishing the Philippine Red Cross, where she was the first chairperson. Building this campaign was her focus, and declined any government pension or a seat at the senate.
The former Marikina-Ermita Avenue was named after Doña Aurora in 1963.
Doña Aurora’s dedication to her humanitarian work and her drive to better women’s lives make the honor of having a street named after her truly well-deserved, ensuring her legacy is remembered.
3. Maria Orosa Street
Despite being known as the inverter of banana ketchup, Maria Orosa y Ylagan’s contribution goes way beyond the now staple condiment.
Maria Orosa helped the Philippines become self-sufficient, and empowered Filipino families during World War II. She was a food technologist, pharmaceutical chemist, and a humanitarian from her core. She held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and food chemistry from the University of Washington. And despite having been offered to be an assistant chemist by the government of Washington, her heart was set on returning to her country. She came back to the Philippines in 1922 and began teaching home economics at the Centro Escolar University. In hopes of achieving her goal of empowering Filipino families, she transferred to the Philippine Bureau of Science’s food preservation division. She travelled to different barrios and taught women how to preserve local produce, poultry, and planning healthy meals for their families. She also enabled families who did not have access to electricity to bake by her invention of the ‘palayok’. As they were the most accessible to families at the time, she developed recipes for local produce such as coconuts and bananas.
In World War II, she utilized her extensive knowledge in food science and invented yet other products to aid the needs of Filipinos – Soyalac, a protein rich powdered soybean, and Darak, a rice bran powder, which is rich in vitamins. These products saved the lives of many starving guerrillas imprisoned in the University of Santo Tomas and war camps in Capas, Tarlac, and Corregidor run by the Japanese. This is because when she became captain in Marking’s Guerrillas, they employed carpenters to insert Soyalac and Darak into hollow bamboo sticks to smuggle to the imprisoned civilians. And as wartime wore on, food shortages were inevitable. Her “Tiki-Tiki” cookies made using Darak also saved many civilians who struggled. Her tragic death came after being hit in her government office during an American bombing raid. She was rushed to the hospital but it was also bombed. A shrapnel shard pierced her heart on February 13, 1945 and ended her life instantly.
The former Florida street in Ermita Manila was named Maria Orosa street following her passing. In the 60s, a decree signed by former President Carlos P. Garcia to recognize November 29 as Home Extension day was set to honor her.
The life of Maria Orosa, which she evidently dedicated to helping the struggling Filipinos in her time, is an extraordinary example of a woman’s selflessness. She had every opportunity to stray from the hardships and chaos brought about by the war, but she chose to use everything she learned to make their lives even the tiniest better. Her life is one to look up to. She served what she believed to be her purpose and made certain that what she worked for will help her fellow Filipinos.
Maria Orosa redefines the phrase “women are meant to stay in the kitchen” – because her staying in the kitchen not only empowered, but also saved lives.
4. Alonzo Street
Behind every successful man is his mother – Dr. Jose Rizal and his mother Doña Teodora Alonzo are no exception. As the woman who raised our National Hero, Doña Teodora is a testament to how profound a mother’s influence is to the life her child chooses for himself. We all know how Rizal’s work contributed to our independence to this day, but what’s even more important is how it opened the eyes of people and let them see what was right in front of them all along. Having taught Rizal nearly everything she knew, shaped his values and ideals, and raised him to fight for the country’s independence, Doña Teodora has contributed to our independence as well.
Nestled in the vibrant district of Binondo, Manila, Teodora Street is a poignant reminder of her life and legacy – a tribute to a remarkable woman and a demonstration of how raising your child shapes not only their aspirations for themselves, but also their aspiration for their country.
5. Gliceria Marella Street
Despite her generous contributions to the revolutionaries, Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio does not get nearly enough credit. She’s often considered as an unsung hero and is better known as the “Godmother of Philippines Revolution”. She was born to a wealthy family in Taal, Batangas, and married a man who was wealthy in the ship industry. Along with her husband, Gliceria was a supporter of the revolution. And much like Tandang Sora, she also opened her home as an avenue where important meetings of revolutionaries like Andres Bonifacio, Miguel Malvar, and Vito Belarimo, were held.
Dr. Jose Rizal’s novels were also published with Gliceria’s help as she gave the hero 18,000 pesos, which was a large sum at the time to aid the expenses of distributing them. But perhaps, her biggest contribution is her donation of the first warship of the Filipinos called the SS Bulusan. It was used to transport food supplies, armaments, and ammunition, and even Filipino soldiers to Visayas.
Her generosity to the Filipinos’ fight for independence is one to admire – a true contradiction to a perception people have about the rich. Despite being swarmed with money and having the means to exempt herself from the struggles of her time, she chose to aid in the mission of trying to eliminate it entirely.
It is truly remarkable what these women have achieved at their time. They were all faced with the hardships of war and, in their own ways, knew what parts of themselves they could offer. Women from all over the country must beam with pride to see how much our kind have contributed not only to our independence but to the lives we’re living today. This women’s month, let’s celebrate the women before us and follow their footsteps of bravery and dedication to continue the trail for the women after us to follow.
