Awesome Health Tips

DRINK YOUR WATER
By June Pascal

Water is the elixir of life,
Water is your friend.
Drink up, Drink up.
Water oh so pure, so pleasurable.



Make drinking water a conscious habit. Here's how.

Step 1  Save three of your emptied wine bottles, rinse and dry.
Step 2  Fill it up with New York tap water filtered  through Brita-like system. It is just as good as  bottled water, if not better because it is free.
Step 3  Drink all the water throughout the day, lots of it during the first three hours in the morning and before bedtime.

Congratulations. You have now fulfilled your required eight to ten glasses of water a day. You have now heeded what your body needs. Your body needs that water - pure, plain, simple water at room temperature, no ice, the warmer the better only because if the water is pure, it can go ahead and do its many functions without the body having to deal with all the additives in the liquid like alcohol, caffeine, sugar, coloring, etc.

Pure water, drank copiously, acts as a flush in our entire system (just like the streets in Madrid are cleaned with strong water hoses every night), cleaning our entire digestive system, carrying out toxins and waste products.

According  to a study on the effects of dehydration, here is a partial list of illnesses highly preventable by the simple act of drinking water: heartburn, arthritis, back pain, angina, migraine, colitis, asthma, early adult diabetes, cholesterol, depression, muscular dystrophy, and multiple schlerosis.

When you start producing mucus especially in the morning, it means you are dehydrated in a cellular level. How so? The body's prompt response to thirst is to flood the lung sacs with mucus to prevent the thin membrane of the lung sacs from drying and tearing, an irreparable and painful condition.

Pay attention to these first signs of runny noses to prevent further complications of having an overload of mucus in your system like colds, cough, broncho-pneumonia, flu.

When feeling constipated, drink plenty of water. End of story.

Make it a habit to take a water bottle with you each time you leave the house. Fill it up at home. It will be free, costs you nothing, you save your dollar and it is better for the environment.

When you eat salty food,  you become thirsty. Salt is dehydrating as in salted dried fish.  Drink extra amount of water when snacking on salty foods.

Hydro-therapy for high blood pressure goes like this.  On the first three hours you are up in the morning, take no solids, only four glasses of water. Do this for a month to lower your high blood pressure.

Use water to change your mood from dark to light instantly, by doing some of these tricks:
1. Splash your face and neck with hot water, then with very cold water. Do it again and again until you get bored, you'll be a new person when you dry yourself up.
2. Do the same with your feet as well. Some people put ice in the cold bucket just for the fun of it.
3. Have a hot soak, as hot as possible. If feeling achy and heavy, pour a box of Epsom salt.
4. Use ice cubes to wash your face, guaranteed picker-upper.
5, Steamed hot towels, anyone? Great before and after meals and flight.
6. Hold a bowl or a large cup of hot water, tea or soup. Cup your hands around it. The heat you feel in your ten finger tips will travel directly to your heart and as we know, heat expands, cold contracts causing your heart to be warmed over, causing you to relax.

If you must have flavoring in your water, lemon, ginger, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar have been known to have beneficial effects.

Close your eyes as you slowly drink water. Concentrate on the sensation of the flow of water starting from the mouth, to throat , to esophagus all the way to the stomach. Zen at its best.With your eyes closed thank the universe that you have water to drink because many more people in the world do not have it.

 

[caption id="attachment_2961" align="alignleft" width="237"] Healthy, fair products from Fair Trade Cebu[/caption]

http://thefairtradeshop.com.ph/category/cebu/

Kit's Kitchen

PEAR CRISP
By Ruth Ezra
Chicago, Illinois

Kit's Kitchen is back! Thank you to a dear friend who asked me over a dinner date why she hasn't seen postings of my baking. My dear Cindy, this one is for you and to our OSM! global readers, enjoy this simple recipe. Since I was not counting calories, I tried it ala-mode. 'Twas the best.



*Three anjou pears, peeled, cored, and sliced in cubes
*1/4 cup warm water
*2 cuties, juiced
*1 cup all purpose flour
*1 cup brown sugar
*1 cup rolled oats
*1 T ground cinnamon
*1 1/2 stick salted butter

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F

Combine pears, cuties juice, warm water, and pour in a pie baking dish.

Combine in a bowl oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour melted butter and stir to make crumbly mixture. Spread evenly on top of the fruit.

Bake 45 to 60 minutes until the topping is crisp and brown.

 

|*|*|*|

Ruth D. Ezra is a culinary queen in her own right through experience and training. She works at the AllState Roadside Services in Northbrook, IL.  Her greatest delight is serving good and healthy food to her husband Heman and only daughter, Isabelle. Kit would love to receive feedback on her recipes, and exchange them with yours at ezraruth@comcast.net.

Let Us Join This Journey!

Sylvia Hubilla
Austin Texas

“The Journey of a Brown Girl”
That is the title of an upcoming stage production. The title raised my eyebrows and peaked my interest. The use of the color of the skin, stirs some emotion and concern about being politically correct whenever the topic is about race.

If it was intentional, it worked. The title catches one's attention. So I clicked on the link, sent to me by my pretty, talented young niece, Leslie Hubilla, who is the choreographer for the production.

The link opened up and drew me in. It's the beautiful story about the journey of a new generation of young Pinays, born and raised in America, seeking their identities by touching base with their culture and their roots.

    It's wonderful to see the younger generation of Pinays, taking up and continuing the seemingly endless journey of the Filipino womyn to break the shackles of the image of Maria Clara, subservient and silent. It is hopeful to see the younger Pinays proudly rediscover our heritage of the warrior Gabriela Silang, and even deeper in our stories of strong womyn leaders, priestesses, and healers in the community.

These global Pinays undertake this journey of empowerment, not only for Pinays, but for all women and girls, in all circumstances. After all, there is a common thread that connects us all.  For aren't all issues, womyn's issues?

Using the powerful medium of Theater, this group of  Pinay artists, passionate about their craft, come together, with shared experiences woven in a powerful narrative expressed in multidimensional art.

As of this writing, they have announced a casting call for Pinay talents, at CAP 21, 18W 18th St., NYC.

“Fully designed, produced and performed by Pinay, this piece seeks to empower our community and create connections of empowerment and celebration of all womyn.”

Director & Creative Producer – Jana Lynn Umipig
Assistant Director           - Renee Floresca
Costume                      - Inez Galvez
Choreographer                - Leslie Hubilla
Lighting Director            - Tina Cocadiz
Set Designer                 - Vanessa Ramalho
Marketing Designer           - Karoleen Decastro

“We see "The Journey of a Brown Girl" as more than a production, but a movement. And our team seeks to submit the production to Independent Theatre Festivals and performance spaces for further production. And eventually publish the play and curriculum for further connection of the Pinay experience and celebration of all sisters and beyond.“

Note on use of “womyn”
Wom*n: The use of wom*n with a "*" is primarily used to remove the patriarchal constructs around language and be intentionally inclusive of all women and women identified persons in a way that does not limit them to representing an extension or creation of man. The "*" is also used as a wildcard to substitue one letter to search for alternate spellings.

Please help and support our project.  Thank you!

The Journey of a Brown Girl is continuing in our effort to encourage for the support of our community and loved ones in 3 ways:
1) GIVE- Please give to the project through our Indiegogo: bitly.com/14HMYud
We have amazing gifts for our monetary donors that reflect our culture, our intention to empower our community and the remarkable artistry of our collective and sisterhood circle! Check them out and contribute what you can!
2) SHARE- Link as many of your networks and family/ friends/ colleagues/ networks to the project! Let your social media support this movement, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, whatever you choose! Connection is key!
3)JOIN- Join the movement of the Journey of a Brown Girl, follow the progress of the artistic talents of our team as they grow this  project with deepened messages! Ask questions, give input, be a part of the process! thejourneyofabrowngirl.com, and we're on facebook and tumblr!

Women Shifting to the Center

[caption id="attachment_2872" align="alignleft" width="168"] Take the lead, woman.[/caption]

By Marivir R. Montebon

Women must free themselves from the bondage of patriarchy in all fronts: gender, economy, culture, politics, and race. - Simone de Beauvoir

Pretty soon, herstory and herstoric moments will become a household word. My optimism is grounded on the fact that the feminist assertion is taking center stage these days. It is the age of Aquarius, the age of reflection and action, and therefore, positive changes. It is the age of the woman, and of Mother Earth, who is obviously ailing and angry at the way we human beings are conducting our affairs.

I, and the growing feminist movement, will not be trivialized and relegated as a peripheral issue, just like women are taken a matter of factly as second class citizens. If the world has to get better, women, men, gays and lesbians must begin to acknowledge everyone's relevance and role.

In the quarters of the America, there is a growing section of feminism that is blossoming to offer a different world view...transnational feminism, or that feminism which crosses borders and boundaries determined by migration, race, class, culture, territory and religion.

The Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-Feudalization, and Marginalization (AF3IRM) is a three-year-old organization of feminists which has boldly organized women and redefine women and their roles in societies and the world.

[caption id="attachment_2873" align="alignleft" width="300"] No piggy-backing. Do your responsibility, claim your success. At the AF3IRM Centershift Conference in Manhattan.[/caption]

Enriched by its 21 years of organizing experience, AF3IRM has mapped out the world into only six continents (Asia, America, Africa, Australia, Antartica, and Europe) instead of the seven as we were taught. It has also reexamined the prevailing feminist school of thought of gender equality.

At whose context are we looking at equality? If it is equality with patriarchy and competition with male dominance, it is problematic. "We are not in competition with men in the context of patriarchy. Otherwise, we will not be solving the problems on injustice and not responding to fairness," the feminists say.

AF3IRM positively asserts the position of women in liberation movements in its poster: "A woman's place is at the head of the struggle for the liberation of humanity."

Feisty but gracious AF3IRM chairperson Jolene Levid emphasizes during their recently concluded Centershift conference in Manhattan: "We are not just relevant, we are definitive. We have the right to develop our theory."

AF3IRM is cooking up a new mindset, a shift to the center of things for women. It echoes the works of celebrated writer and feminist Simone de Beauvoir who asserts that women must free themselves from the bondage of patriarchy in all fronts: gender, economy, culture, politics, and race.

Beauvoir was affront in her assertion that the Marxism did not free women from exploitation and control, citing the experiences in the communist movements in Europe.

Fact is, the political movements all over the world remained male-dominated and piggy-backed on women activists who were doing much work but in silence and without responding to the gutteral issues of respect and fairness within the political organizations.

AF3IRM founder Ninotchka Rosca, international writer and novelist and a key political activist at the time of Pres. Marcos in the Philippines, is in the forefront in the center shift mindset, having personally experienced political upheavals in the Philippines and abroad.

Quite candidly, in fact, she maintains that the core of the movement for global change is gender fairness. Everything is of equal importance, she says, economy, race, religion, culture, and gender and the struggle for such must be simultaneous.

"Within the mass movements worldwide, it is sad that the progressive men continue to reign dominion, hence, we are not talking of sincere change here," she said.

AF3IRM is relentless in writing its own experiences and drawing lessons from these, their woman's development theory remains a work in progress. It is quite a dynamic group, ran by young and fully inspired women who bind themselves with reverence to the spirit of the goddesses and babaylans (spiritual healers of the community before the Spanish conquest) as inspiration.

With faith, fastidiousness, and finesse, these women are moving towards the center for social change at a remarkable pace. "We have a herstory to write and tell," said Olivia Trinlas, AF3IRM's gentle but indomitable chairperson for New York.

Who Will Prosecute My Trafficker?

By Marivir Montebon

New York City -- The US may truly be the land of the free. It is also the land of the trafficked persons, a reality which government officials and lawmakers must look into as they cook up an immigration reform law.

[caption id="attachment_2921" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The land of the free is also the land of the trafficked people.[/caption]

They could listen to Marilou, and to thousands of stories of trafficked persons. This is the silent side of immigration.

Tears welled in her eyes before she could speak. And she finally spoke about the family she left in the Philippines who was unaware that she was being tricked to have a job that does not exist, Marilou (not her real name) could not help but wail. Silence ensued in the conference room, packed with an audience of color, Filipinos, Indians, Mexicans, and Tibetans, lobbying for immigration reforms in Congress.

Marilou was quick to apologize for her anguish. And continued to share her testimony as a trafficked person by what seems to be a reliable recruitment agency in the Philippines (it was accredited by the government agency on international recruitment standards).

She had the creepy feeling that her American dream was false the moment she landed at the Dulles Airport in 2008, she said during the International Migrants Rights Day in early October in New York.

Marilou thought that she was going to be a Special Education teacher in Virginia, only to sense that there was something fishy going on when she arrived in the US. She was not picked up at the airport when she already paid $200 to her recruiter for her car service.

She had to frantically find her way to her recruiter’s place at dawn, who to her surprise was angry  at her for making such a long late trip. The following day, the recruiter took her to her employer school, whose principal was surprised by her visit when there was no hiring being undertaken.

Things got clearer for Marilou when she was warned by the recruiter against telling her situation to anybody, or she will report to have her deported by authorities. The recruiter brought her to a preschool where she was to work as teacher/babysitter to survive in America.

She had no other recourse but to take the job in order to pay her debt of $25,000 in the Philippines that covered her  recruitment fees, airfare, and house rental fees. Marilou is a victim of fraud. She worked as a babysitter, continuously paid her recruiter for her placement fees, and managed to send meager amounts of money to her family and debtors in the Philippines.

Her recruiter had threatened to have her deported unless she paid the balance of her recruitment fees. She could not continue to do so, after having been laid off from the preschool.

Distraught and in deep debt, regret, and shame, Marilou often swang from thoughts of suicide to reporting to  authorities about her condition.

One day, no longer able to bear her misery, Marilou sought the help of a friend who referred her a key organizer of  the what is now the women's group Gabriela in Washington, DC.

Over the phone, she sobbed hysterically as she asked for help from paralegal expert and Gabriela organizer Susan Pineda.

[caption id="attachment_2922" align="alignleft" width="168"] Pineda: The issuance of T visas is a boost to justice in the US.[/caption]

The help from Gabriela emboldened her to file charges against her recruiter before the Philippine embassy. It was a long fought struggle and turned out  that the decision wasn't fair for the Philippine government merely charged the recruiter with $1000 in penalty for procedural lapses in recruitment.

Marilou certainly did not feel vindicated with that. But she, along with the other teacher recruits courageously testified  before immigration authorities about their condition, despite the risks that their families in the Philippines may face due to retaliation by these affluent recruiters. Marilou was recently granted a T (Trafficking) visa.

"Unknown to many, there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in human history," explained Ms. Pineda  who noted that the number of cases she has helped push through for trafficked individuals have boosted her resolve to help these individuals. "It is a silent crime in the US and people are crying for help," she said.

About 100,000 children in the sex trade while between 14,500 and 17,500 people – mostly women and children - are trafficked into the US annually, US statistics show.

Human trafficking comes in second to drug trafficking as the most profitable illegal industry in  the world. Different sources estimate profits from human trafficking is as high as $32 billion, increasingly at the hands of organized crime due to the high profits and the fewer risks compared to arms or drug trafficking.

The United Nations underpinned the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and  Children (also referred to as the Trafficking Protocol or UN TIP Protocol) to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The Trafficking Protocol was adopted by the UN in Palermo in 2000 and was enforced December 25, 2003, with currently 117 countries and 154 parties ratifying.

In compliance with this Protocol, the US Congress passed into law The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, offering protection for persons in the country illegally who may be victims of human trafficking. The TVPA combats trafficking by promoting a policy of prosecution, protection, and prevention. It is through this law, that most of the victims of human trafficking, acquires legal status in the US.

Under the TVPA law, the US government grants T-visa to victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons. T visas offer the victims a path to freedom, including citizenship, in exchange for their help putting modern day slave runners behind bars.

The T visas are truly a big factor to usher in justice, said Pineda.

The other side of the equation however remains unchecked, sending countries like the Philippines and Mexico, need to rethink its immigration policy which wittingly and unwittingly allow human trafficking to take place, and is fashionably calling it a development tool. Until now, Marilou's question, who will prosecute my trafficker remains unanswered.

MILLY SILVA: Latina Steps Up from the Other Side of Spectrum

By Marivir R. Montebon

Metropark, New Jersey -- "I am just a labor leader stepping forward. It is difficult, but I am stepping forward," Milly Silva said with refreshing note of confidence.

[caption id="attachment_2911" align="alignleft" width="149"] Woman labor leader steps up[/caption]

At 42, she runs half the ticket of the Bouno-Silva of the Democratic Party against the incumbent New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno of the Republican Party.

It is an all-women ticket in New Jersey, a rare political moment as it is only the third time to happen in America's electoral history.

Milly is the executive vice president of 1199 SEIU and her work is mostly on organizing low-income communities in the Bronx where she was born, and in New Jersey's nursing home and health care facilities.

She speaks strongly for women, labor rights and for immigration, having been born to and raised single-handedly by her mom  who hails from Puerto Rico. This easily identifies her with Filipinos living in the state, which is the biggest population (110,650 as of 2010 census) of Filipino-Americans in the east coast.

Milly now lives with her husband and three children in Montclair.

Excerpts of the interview:

1. What made you decide to be Barbara Buono's running mate?

Barbara asked me to run with her. And I admire her to challenge Gov. Christie, so here I am. I bring real life experience  in organizing low income families, safe neighborhood, benefits for nursing care givers and poor workers. Based on experience, I bring together industry and workers together on the table.

2. You come from the minority race and a woman. Is it difficult to get into the electoral arena?

[caption id="attachment_2912" align="alignright" width="173"] We will work for equal pay for women for equal work.[/caption]

It is very difficult. I am the first Latina to ever run for a high public office. But I am stepping up, as a labor leader,  I am just stepping up. I am a woman and I believe that we have to represent women. In the nursing homes where I do my organizing work, I see them as my mother and sisters. I believe more women leaders must step up.

3. What programs do you have in particular for women?

We are pushing for equal pay for equal work. Right now, the Latina women are paid fifty-one cents to the dollar. And for  the entire country, women are paid 77 cents to the dollar. We are also going to fully fund health services. Right now, the planned parenthood budget has been slashed.

4. What is the future of immigration law in New Jersey?

We support a comprehensive immigration reform law. In the state, we will have tuition fee support for the Dreamers,  because they are in fact, our future leaders. We will invest in their education. The Governor's office will be a place for them to speak out.

5. What is the Buono-Silva economic program?

You know, 95 percent of businesses in New Jersey are categorized as small. We will improve the business climate here by providing tax credits to support small businesses. Gov. Christie has, on the other hand, provided a $2.1 billion in tax exemptions to big businesses. I understand that most immigrant-owned business, like Filipino businesses, need that support.

6. Running against Gov. Christie is quite a challenge, as he leads about 20 points in the recent polls. Will you still be  involved in the issues for New Jersey whether or not you make it in the elections as Lt. Governor?

[caption id="attachment_2913" align="alignleft" width="141"] Whatever happens, this will not be my last.[/caption]

If he wins, I will continue to work on the side of the society where I am most comfortable. Whatever happens,  this will not be my last.

The Perfect Subversion

By Marivir R. Montebon

New York City -- Everything that the petite and feisty Ninotchka Rosca said at the Montclair  State University in New Jersey was subversive. Her lecture titled 'The Colonial Roots of Violence Against Women' was like an ultra violent movie, it had to issue a warning that it was not meant for the faint hearted.

[caption id="attachment_2896" align="alignleft" width="168"] Rosca: international novelist and feminist[/caption]

Rosca, an international novelist and transnational feminist, lectured at the George Segal Gallery, where the Triumph of Philippine Art exhibit is ran until December 15,  2013 and curated by M. Teresa Lapid Rodriguez, the Gallery's director.

She began with the painful reality that Filipino women are the main export of the Philippines. The $30 billion in remittances to the country every year was predominantly courtesy of the Filipino woman, who choses to  leave her family to earn in a much better quantitative manner in a foreign land.

The odds are all against the woman, who could no longer take part in raising her children and providing them emotional  support, while being exposed to the risks of being a faceless entity in a foreign land's labor force.

This reality may well be considered a violence against the well-being of women. But in absolute terms, violence against  women has to be defined as the total deprivation of their economic and political rights, she said.

An award-winning novelist based in New York, Rosca was a political activist at the time of Philippine dictator Pres.  Marcos. She sought political asylum in the US in the early 1980s. Since then, Rosca has devoted her time to writing and organizing women in the US.

Her group, called the AF3IRM, is relentless in its organizing work and developing and popularizing a feminist theory to guide contemporary women's movements.

Rosca's lecture is a substantial element in the reawakening of the theory based on ancient feminist practices.

She divided her lecture into three parts: the era of the babaylan (priestess) which characterized the indigenous society  prior to the Spanish colonialism, the era of dominion and hegemony which describes the Spanish and American colonial rule, and finally, the killing of the Adarna Bird which figuratively calls to end Philippine diaspora.

Veering away from the traditional structure of looking at Philippine history on the periodic manner, Rosca used a lens  that is especially feminine, to tell a story of a people that has yet to come to terms with suppressed realities and truths that have been forcibly erased from their common memory several hundred years ago.

The Era of the Babaylan

In the ancient days, when there was no Philippines to speak of, there were only thousands of tribes scattered in the  archipelago, each having their distinction and commonality as indigenous peoples.

Describing the Bagobo tribes, Rosca pointed out that the ancient societies ascribed to the goddess Mebuya (or Maibuan,  Mebyan, and Mona in other ethnic groups) and their lives were predominantly guided by the babaylan (priestesses).

[caption id="attachment_2897" align="alignleft" width="93"] Mebuyan: the goddess of many breasts (Duddley Diaz sculpture)[/caption]

Mebuya was the goddess of many breasts and a hundred names. She brought forth children, and milk, a symbol of power of  women. In Greek mythology, she was the goddess Artemis.

The babaylan and the women in the ancient times held the knowledge of seeds, plants, and herbs. They led in rituals and  rites exclusively, such as the pounding of rice, while the men had to pound the gongs.

The babaylan was the spiritual leader of the community, the only one entitled to communicate to the spirits. There were  instances when men were spiritual leaders, but they were required to wear women's clothes to communicate to the spirits.

The women were the key individuals in the death and birth of members of their community. They were also responsible for  their oral stories, through poems and songs, said to the children towards the end part of the day.

Rosca said that at the time of babaylan, the societies were less oppressive and more egalitarian.  The crimes noted were offense and insult such as when you offend or insult women.

Virginity was not a requirement and adultery was not a big issue and was paid off with a certain amount to the spouse.

In ancient times, a major rule was to never have debts. It was honorable to never owe anything to anyone.

The era of the babaylan was prevalent in indigenous societies of Asia prior to the conquest of western world.

Dominionism and Hegemony

The absolute subversion of the mindset of the babaylan took place when Spain colonized the islands and named it  Philippines, after its king, Philip II.

The "idea of the perfect" was brought into the islands and it takes the face of a foreigner and its center was religion.

"We were taught of the God, the father, God, the son, and God, the holy ghost. Somebody turned the woman into a ghost,"  said Rosca.

It was impossible for the foreigner to destroy the feminist view, noted Rosca, that they had to convert Juana (native name  unknown), the wife of the tribal chief of Cebu, Humabon, into Christianity.

[caption id="attachment_2898" align="alignright" width="168"] Dominionism encroached into the era of the babaylan.[/caption]

Christianity indoctrinated the natives that life is painful and full of misery and systematically took away the rights of  women.

This was expressed in the change of the clothing of women. "The women were literally imprisoned in their clothes,"  remarked Rosca.

The encomienda system outrightly replaced the leadership of women in the farms. Women were relegated to the homes, to give  birth as much as they can for labor supply.

This perfect subversion of the rights of women led to babaylan revolts all over the archipelago. The babaylan was persecuted and banished.   For more than 300 years, the perfection of the foreign intruder was best expressed in recreating the psyche of a  subservient woman and forgetting the spiritual leadership of the babaylan.

Killing the Adarna Bird

Rosca brings her lecture to full circle using the myth of the Ibong Adarna (ibon means bird). But unlike how the popular  legend, written in poetry by the famous Francisco Baltazar, imparts hope and solution that the bird brings (it has to be captured by the three princes and a feather be brought to cure their ailing father), Rosca pleads her audience to kill the Adarna myth.

The journey of the three princes to foreign lands in search of the Ibong Adarna, is so much like the Filipino diaspora,  she said. Jose Rizal went to study in Europe to bring in fresh ideas to the revolution of the Philippines, Filipinos must seek greener pastures abroad to give bright future to the children. But that is not the answer, postulates Rosca.


"We go around the world, trying to look for solutions to our problems in the country. But the answer is right there, all  the time. We only need to learn the story of our past and revive the feminism of the babaylan."