Mapiles.com | Your Partner Online

This is my official entry to WikiPilipinas Filipina Stories sponsored by WikiPilipinas and Filipina Images. Visit WikiPilipinas.Org or Filipiniana.net to know more about this great Filipina initiative.

If you are on my own shoes, you will surely understand why I am writing this.

More than the price that is at stake, I decided to enter this contest to give my heartfelt appreciation to a Filipino woman, who in her own modest way has displayed so much inspiration to all Filipina. Lack of education, extreme poverty and peer pressure, have never hindered her way to fulfill her vision to emerge as winner against the adversities of life.

I may be violating some rules of essays, but let me put my heart on this writing while my tears keep on dropping. I’m an engineer by profession, my sister has almost finished her doctorate degree, my eldest brother is a journalist, my other brother is a lawyer in the making while the youngest is a newly registered nurse. But what’s the point in telling this? Is it intended to brag about our achievements? Never, because we were not taught that way.I know there are no exact words to fully describe how gratified we are to have this full-blooded Filipina. But certainly, she is the woman behind our achievements. A God-fearing, strong-willed and husband-loving mother is no less than the reason of our success. The girl who was once despised has truly made a resounding yet a very humble statement that there is light at the back of silver-colored clouds.

I still remember how determined she was to teach us on how to face the difficulties of life. At a very young age of 8, I personally witnessed how different she was compared to typical women. She showed us the way on how to work for a living. I’ve been a public market vendor who sold ice candy, corn, banana que and many more just to get some cash, all because of her persistence.

 Modern? For us she is. Her image has indeed made a big impact in our community. She may not be educated on how fast information is being transferred in the internet, she maybe unknowledgeable how influential blogs and websites are in the world scenarios, she maybe not updated about the latest technology nowadays, but what she did, as far as we are concern, is 2 decades in advance.

What I know, what my siblings know, what we share, what my siblings share, what I achieved and what my siblings achieved are nothing but her own products. Her tenacity to uplift us on poverty, to give us a good future through proper education is something that cannot be achieved by an ordinary woman. A Filipina who only finished grade two has turned all dreams into bits of realization. Before, she had nothing except her family, and her willingness to change the world she stood for.

I don’t know how powerful this writing could be, but this has given me a sign of relief because at last, through this writing I have expressed how thankful I am to a Filipina woman, whose image is something that can be proud of. Her accomplishments are world class in nature, thus making her a world class Filipina.

Again, I would like to say thanks to my mother Violeta Pangilinan Mapiles, my guru, my ever-dearest, my idol, my life and my first choice modern Filipina. To end this, I’ll go back to my first statement, do you now understand why am I writing this?