Trailblazing

The search for the Sugbuanang Tag-una or Cebuana Trailblazers,  second edition, has just been concluded. Forty amazing women finally completed the compendium of Cebuana trailblazers, an addition to the first sixty trailblazers when the project started in 2005. This fulfills the celebration of the centennial of the International Women’s Day last March 8, 2011. A project of the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission through the Legal Alternatives for Women Center Inc. these 40  women will also be honored through a set of Heritage Cards, which will be launched on Aug. 1, 2011, together with the photo exhibit of the complete compendium in time for the opening of the celebration of the anniversary of the foundation of the province of Cebu at the atrium of the Capitol building, just below the dome. The exhibit features  accomplishments of the women who helped develop Cebu into a dynamic island. Hence,  the story of the Cebuana Trailblazers is the story of the province of Cebu.

How was the search conducted? It started with a listing  of possible nominees a year before. To be considered of course were the following criteria: age 50 and above, a Cebuana by birth or who stayed long enough to do the trailblazing in Cebu; distinct features of the trailblazing, especially going against all odds and with no or very little resources, working in areas where angels fear to tread  is most welcome. Trailblazing here means making a difference in the lives of people and communities. Gathering of resumes followed which was very slow because many of the nominees had  retired or moved to another place. A series of meetings was scheduled from January to June to update the listing. This time we saw to it that the grassroots women would be given special attention. For the culture and heritage portion, I contacted the provincial Heritage and Tourism Council to submit a list of nominees of women in the municipalities who have done outstanding work in heritage work and tourism promotion in relation to the program of the province. The council submitted 11 names and we picked three from the list.

The list revealed the diversity of trailblazing work: child and disability advocacy, literary and heritage scholarship, education (a lot of them), science education, water and environment, culture and heritage, development banking, dairy industry and nutrition, entrepreneurship in various forms, gender-sensitive judiciary, eco-cultural governance, women empowerment in varied forms, diplomacy, memory keeping, town historiography and cultural transformation, creative tourism, communicators and trainers, philanthropy. In the deliberations we did away with  resumes but focused on the impact of their work. This boiled down to coming up with a one-line caption for each of the trailblazers and a shortened description of their work to fit in the heritage card and for the exhibit layout.

Some changes took place as the meetings continued. Verifications were made for some nominees whom the committee members were not familiar with. It was the stories of some nominees that took much of the time in the meetings. But this is expected because we are talking about women’s lives.

Hopping from the Women’s Kapihan every second Saturday of the month at radio dyLA to Metro Café or the LAW Center Inc. office at Sikatuna Street or at the Museo Sugbo to meet, the stories never ended. Editing was tedious but the rotating nature of the editing made it less tedious. The call for the proper picture to match the caption and citation was another tedious task but thanks to online  social networks the problem was solved.

Being involved in the search for the Cebuana Trailblazers was enriching, humbling, inspiring, animating, as well as hilarious. With the indefatigable energies of Lolet Aliño and the LAW Center Inc. staff, the committee members headed by Dr. Ester Velasquez, Mayette Eguerrola, Fe Reyes, Portia Dacalos, Sofia Logarta, Edith Bajenting, and Palmy Pe-Tudtud, thanks for an exciting activity for women, a one of its kind!  We invite you to see the fruits of the search on Aug. 1, 2011, at the Capitol Atrium.