“The history of the world is but the biography of great men,” declared Thomas Carlyle. And someone quickly added that “behind every great man is a woman.” In the Philippines, however, women have accomplished great things not behind their men but on equal footing and even in competition with them. As far back as could be ascertained, women have played important roles in Philippine history. Unlike those of their male counterparts, however, the lives and deeds of leading Filipino women have not been well appreciated. This lack of appreciation and recognition of feminine accomplishments may be ascribed largely to the dearth of written literature on great Filipino women.

In pre-Spanish Philippines, women were held in high respect by their menfolk. A proof of this is that when walking together in company, the men walked a few steps behind the women. The long period of subjection under Spain reduced the social status of the Filipino woman, relegating her mostly to the home and church, making her a pious, shy, and practically illiterate creature; servile to men, especially to the parish curate and to the Spanish officials. Yet no people could be subjugated forever. In the case of the Filipinos, the spirit of nationalism, though painfully slow in developing, finally blossomed in the latter part of the 19th century. The flowering of nationalism led to the Reform (Propaganda) Movement and finally to the Philippine Revolution, an upheaval that had in its leadership not only brave and brilliant men but also self-sacrificing and patriotic women. (excerpts from “The Filipino Woman in History” by Demy Sonza)