It is nice to work with women, pray with women, talk with women. But as our individual contexts initially bring to light, creating an environment conducive to the empowerment of women will improve the world of the next generation in terms of narrowing gender gaps. Researchers and journalists must widely disseminate and follow up their studies. Many developed and developing countries have made great strides in women empowerment, but these countries should not rest on laurels. Empowering them must be wide-reaching.
Consider “empowerment from within” as a salient issue in communication and governance. How about empowering both women and girls? This will enthusiastically reflect that process. Their formative years are a determining factor; they are supposed to be made aware of the essentials of Christian ministries and be blessed by a lot of training programs and godly sermons like the need to know what to pray and how to pray while they are not mothers yet. The idea can be found in 2 Timothy 3:6-7, an English Standard Version of which says: “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
As for “women (and girls) empowerment from within” as a salient issue for us, communication researchers, this point may enable us “to understand, rather than be understood.” Listening more to them is a tall order. But once we gather enough data out of their “voice,” we may provide a good discussion of study results as well as a guide to the administration side of church ministries. This leads me to further suggest that this be included in study limitations: We may make it clearer that our participants are from a particular small Christian group of women (and girls) as more and more Muslim women and girls get benefitted from programs on gender equality promotion that includes their own version of “empowering (them) from within.”
Outside of our homes, apart from the religious sector, we may “check” woman group activities, or simply “makialam.” Sorilla (2022) recorded the following organizations that uphold women and related rights: Rags2Riches; Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau; Habi: The Philippine Textile Council; Child Protection Network; Kasuso: Philippine Foundation for Breast Cancer; Samahan ng mga Pilipina para sa Reporma at Kaunlaran (SPARK!); and ICanServe Foundation. Others have their long respective list of women’s groups.
Happy Women’s Month to every Gabriela Silang, Gregoria de Jesus, and Melchora Aquino (Tandang Sora) in our Pinay fold here and abroad. And to all women and girls on our Mother Earth, mabuhay. We should all be proud to stand in solidarity with them (mga babae).
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
