The photo depicts Pura Villanueva Kalaw, founder of the pioneering feminist organization.

This
Ilonga beauty won the first (1908) Queen of Manila Carnivals. The Manila Carnivals were like
Ms Universe raised to the 10th power. They were dubbed as the greatest annual spectacle in the
Orient. But Pura was not only known for her beauty or humanist advocacy. She was an
accomplished academic, writer and artist. I guess it was a time when the beauty pageant winner
aced the interview portion.
Women’s fight for suffrage started formally with the establishment of two feminist
organizations. One was the Associacion Feminista Filipina, founded by Concepcion Felix
Rodriguez in 1905, whose original members included Jose Rizal’s sister, Trinidad. The other
was the Associacion Feminista Ilonga (take a bow, Ilo-ilo), founded by Pura Villanueva Kalaw
in 1906. Both organizations did not only demand voting rights for women, but also for
reforms in education, health care, labor and the prison system.

Later, the Manila Women’s Club and the National Federation of Women’s Clubs expanded
the geographic and social reach of the movement to include middle-class women. But the
struggle was not easy. The first congressional bill to allow women’s vote was filed in 1907,
but the all-male National Assembly was worried that women’s suffrage would change the
nature of the Filipino family. No bill became law for thirty years!

Finally, during the drafting of the 1935 Constitution, women’s suffrage was included, with
the requirement that it will be passed with a vote of at least 300,000 women voters, a rather
difficult threshold at that time. But the suffragists worked hard to achieve this target by
raising awareness, addressing concerns and demanding their rights. Even a group of young
women, the Junior Federation of Women’s Clubs, joined in by volunteering to take care of
the children while mothers trooped to the polls. On April 30, 1937, the votes came in and it
was determined that 444,725 women said “yes,” they wanted to vote in Philippine elections.
That was 91% of the women’s votes cast, an overwhelming support indeed! Looking back,
we cannot help but be awed and inspired by this humanist achievement.