The heroism of the Malolos women

WHEN I was a little girl, in grade school in Malolos, I used to

walk from our home down the road to the house of Dr. Luis U.

Santos in Pariancillo where wealthy Chinese mestizo families of

our town live: the Tantocos, Reyeses, Tiongsons, Crisostomos,

Uitangcoys and Tanchangcos.

It was also the home where I first began my piano lessons under

Maestrang Epang, younger sister of Dr Luis Santos.

I vividly recall entering a porch where numerous patients, some

foreigners, were waiting to be treated by Dr. Luis who, in those

days, was already a famed eye specialist. I would walk beyond

the clinic into their sala where I would wait for my piano teacher

to come down from upstairs.

Quite often, I was greeted by an elderly lady in her 60s. She was

fair and had a beautiful high nose with gray hair. They called her

''Impong (grandmother) Eding.'' She was the owner of the house

and mother to 11 Santos children. I was actually talking to an

icon--the leaders of the 21 Women of Malolos! But I was only

10 years old and did not know any better.

It was only the other day when Impong Eding's grandson, Dr.

Sabino Santos, gave me a picture for publication with this

article. I was told, to my great surprise, that she is the Alberta U.

Uitangcoy, the leader of the group of the 21 Women of Malolos

to whom Dr. Jose Rizal wrote his now famous letter ''Sa mga

Kababayan Dalaga sa Malolos.''

A Malolos historian, R. Tantoco underscored the fact that Rizal

was motivated to write the letter not only because his friend

Marcelo H. del Pilar urged him to do so but also because Rizal

must have met them before and danced with the young

Maloleqas when he visited Malolos on the invitation of wealthy

families.

Alberta Uitangcoy was only 20 when she organized the 21

Women, many of them her cousins. They wrote a letter to the

cura paroco, Fray Filipe Garcia, asking permission to set up a

night school at their own expense to learn Spanish, the

language of the illustrado. The friars were especially upset

because they were aware that the language would open up the

world of progressive ideas to the indios.

In a sense this move was part of the growing movement among

the elite of Malolos to express and protest the abuse of the

friars. Father Garcia refused their request. Despite the initial

setback, they took the opportunity to present their petition

offered by Gov. Gen. Valeriano Weyler when he visited Malolos.

The letter

To better appreciate why we should pay tribute and memorialize

this act of courage of the 21 Women of Malolos, allow me to

reproduce herewith their letter:

His Excellency, the Governor General of the Philippines,

Your Excellency:

We, the undersigned young women and others, do hereby

present and petition with due respect of Your Excellency the

following: Desirous of knowing the rich Spanish language,

Stimulated and gratified for your generous spirit in spreading in

the country the knowledge of the Castilian language and unable

to learn it in the schools in Manila--some because of the

passing circumstances in which they find themselves and

others because their domestic duties prevent them from

studying during the day, we humbly request Your Excellency

that we be granted a night school in the home of an old relative

of ours where we shall attend classes accompanied by our

mothers to receive lessons in Spanish grammar under a Latin

professor who will be paid by us. This professor has given

proof of his ability to teach Spanish in a short time. Progress

has been observed among his private pupils while on the other

hand, without any desire the other teachers of the town have

not obtained until now positive results.

It is a favor that we are sure we shall obtain from your

well-known generosity. May God keep your precious life many

years.

Malolos, Dec. 12, 1888

Alberta Uitangcoy, Merced Tiongson, Feliciana Tiongson,

Maria Tantoco, Basilia Tantoco, Emilia Tiongson, Agapita

Tiongson, Paz Tiongson, Leoncia Reyes, Aurea Tangchangco,

Eugenia Tanchangco and others without surnames: Cecilia,

Aleja, Filomena, Anastacia, Rufina and Juana.

This letter was translated from the Tagalog of the 21 Women of

Malolos into Spanish by Sr. Teodoro Sandico, a fact which

alerts us to this truth.

Unbounded joy

Among the Filipino and Spanish liberals, the letter was received

with unbounded joy and admiration. In the February 1889 issue

of La Solidaridad, Graciano Lopez Jaena described the letter as a

blow against those who would keep the conscience of women

enslaved to the friars' ideas.

Most important, in February 1889 upon the urging of his friend,

Marcelo H. del Pilar, Rizal wrote a letter to the women,

congratulating them, and inspired by their example, described

the role women should play in the struggle for reform.

My historian kababayan, Dr. Nic Tiongson summarizes the

essence of this famous letter of Rizal. As a maiden, says Rizal,

the woman should be valued by a young man not for her looks

or sweet disposition but for the strength of her character and

sense of humor. As a wife, the women should not be a slave to

her husband but rather a partner, shouldering half his travails,

consoling and encouraging him. As a mother, she should raise

her children to love their fellow humans and their country and to

value honor above all, including death. As a human being, she

should develop her mind, learn to love herself and make

decisions on her own. As a Christian (not necessarily a

Catholic), the woman should equate holiness not with external

ritual like murmuring prayers and wearing scapulars but with

following one's conscience no matter what. As a citizen, the

woman should understand that she is equal to all humans,

assume her social responsibility and unite with all who fight for

their rights.

Amid the friar's constant harassment, the women did not seem

to lose hope, as exemplified by Nia Tiongson and her sisters Dr.

Nic Tiongson's grandparents who, in April 1889, debated with

the friar curate, Agustin Fernandez.

Among others, they told the friar to his face that they purposely

did not go to Mass every day because they and their friends

thought it better to pray and do good works on their own

without the left hand knowing what the right is doing.

Furthermore, they never visited the friar in the convent because

in their town the people believe that any woman who frequents

the convento--whether maiden, married woman or widow--is out

to lose her honor, if she has not already lost it. If Del Pilar is to

be believed, the friar was no match to the women. He left their

house ''with his tail between his legs.''