Badass Filipina Women

By Darlene Adoremos

Filipinos are famous for their exotic and unique features when it comes to beauty standards.
Having a tan skin, a perfect smile, and a snub-nose sum up a Filipino beauty. But being a
Filipina isn’t just all beauty – they also have the knowledge and open-mindedness to express
their opinions when it comes to political issues that the Filipinos are suffering today.

Many Filipinas were recognized because of their knowledge and dedication to improve the
country’s current situation, and most of them really did change the country. Moreover, they also
made a name to be recognized nationally and internationally. But unfortunately, the people tend
to forget who these Filipina once were.

Let us tackle Filipina women who were once recognized because of the brains, talents and, just
being a badass native.

1. Maria Ylagan Orasa, a pioneer in food technology, nutrition, and preservation. She is
also a war heroine, banana ketchup inventor, and the first Filipino nutritionist. She was
credited for inventing some of the most amazing foods we know today – banana ketchup,
Calamansi Nip (a powdered form of calamansi), Soyalac (powdered soya beans), just to
name a few.
2. Maria Evangelista Carpena (1886-1915), also known as “Nightingale of Zarzuela”,
finally blazed the trail for other Filipino singers when she became the first Filipino
recording artist in 1908. Her biggest break was when she was chosen by Severino Reyes
for the lead role of Minda Mora. Maria Evangelista would sing at Luneta to 20,000
people and her voice would be heard through the Manila Hotel.
3. Olivia Salamanca, also known as Pioneer Woman Physician of the Philippines, obtained
the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia.
Therefore, she was the second Filipina to become a physician after Dr. Honoria Acosta-
Sison, who graduated from the same school in 1909.
4. Pelagia Mendoza y Gotianquin stood out for excelling in the male-dominated field of
sculpture. She is the first known Filipina sculptor in history. Also, she was the first
 female student ever accepted at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, which later became
the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. With the exceptional of flair for
painting, embroidery and sculpture, she got herself an award-winning entry to the
Columbus Quadricentennial Art Contest in 1892, organized by the Spanish Government.
5. Helen Cruz is transwoman who fiercely fought for the country’s LGBTQA+ community.
She was also a singer and an actress, who was most active in the 60’s. Helen Cruz is also
a writer – Tess de Carlos in Trans History credits Cruz as a pillar of transgender rights.
She is also known as the pioneer of Swardspeak, a special argot of the LGBTQA+
community. She also started filtering through the mainstream Filipino Language.
6. Princess Tarhata Kiram was the first pensionado Filipina Tausug. She flew to USA in
1942 and studied at University of Illinois, making a history for Muslims and Women as a
whole in the country. She later became involved in politics and became a government
consultant on Islamic affairs. She condemned the Bacon Bill of 1926 which sought to
separate Mindanao and Sulu from the rest of the Philippines. She is also a feminist even
before the movement haven’t started in the Philippines.
7. Carmen Rosales is one of the legendary actresses in the 40’s. Aside from being an
actress, she is also a sharpshooter. She joined the Hulk Rebellion after discovering her
husband died at the hands of the Japanese. She used a .45 and went into battles with a
mustache to disguise herself.
8. Nieve Fernandez is a schoolteacher and one of the female leaders in guerrilla in WWII.
Nieves only used a weapon, such as a homemade shotgun called paltiks. Nieves and her
group made life hell for the Japanese, killing 200 of them during the resistance. The
Japanese put a bounty on her head for about 10,000 pesos.
9. Simeona Punsalan-Tapang is the last living highly ranked femail Huk Veteran. She
fought the Japanese in Central Luzon during WWII as a young adult. She was known as
Commander Guerrero, she was later describe as a “big bodied woman with a man’s ,
strength, and would command on the firing line”
10. Maria Rosa Luna Henson was the first woman who used her voice for the Filipina
Victims who serve as comfort women during WWII in 1992. She wrote an autobiography
where she related how the at the age of 16 she had to endure nine brutal months of being
raped repeatedly everyday while detained in the hospital in Angeles.
References:

https://filipiknow.net/extraordinary-filipinas-in-history/

https://nolisoli.ph/58570/women-philippine-history-know/
https://filipiknow.net/greatest-filipina-heroines/