The prevailing beauty standards in the country were challenged and ultimately shattered at the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant, which took all of five hours at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and ended early morning of May 23. Chelsea Manalo, a 24-year-old model from Bulacan, bested 52 other aspirants to inherit the...
Category: Culture
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Leonardo da Vinci in overwhelming view
MELBOURNE—These excerpts are from what is believed to be the world’s first résumé on record: “I have plans for light, strong and easily portable bridges… I can give complete satisfaction…in architecture and the construction of buildings public and private; and in conducting water from one place to another…. In case of need I will make...
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The heritage house, the choreographer, and the ballet
Archivist Purissima “Petty” Benitez-Johannot and her team have been looking after Helena’s house, cataloguing its contents since 2018. The house on Mariposa, Qùezon City, is MiraNila, ancestral home of the Benitez family; Helena is Helena Z. Benitez—educator, former senator, and founder of the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). Helena was...
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In Maguindanao, internally displaced women are empowered through agri-entrepreneurship
“I remember during Ramadan last year, at iftar—just as we were about to break our fast—suddenly we heard an explosion. We dropped and ran, carrying our food with us,” Salha Salik, who now lives in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, recalled in Tagalog during a phone interview. “It’s unpredictable here,” said Salik, 35. “Ever since I was...
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Six Filipino women show the way
Women who have marked the political landscape with grit and grace and who continue to engage the burning issues of the day for the people’s general benefit are the subjects of a new book, “Six Filipino Women for Justice.” Published by San Anselmo Press and edited by Asunción David Maramba, the book features profiles of...
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‘Pangalay’ takes young audiences by storm
A traditional dance is a dynamic expression of a people’s history and worldview. Thus, it should be preserved and developed to uphold a people’s rich cultural heritage. “Pangalay,” aka “igal” and “pamansak,” is one such rich dance form of the Sama, the Badjaw, the Tausug, the Jama Mapun and the Yakan of the Sulu Archipelago. But a...
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When you hit the road and ‘feel the wonderful wind on your face’
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling,” the American activist Susan B. Anthony once said. “I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a...
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Artschoolnow Salon: ‘We can salon anywhere with anything’
Tanya Villanueva chose March 8 for the pop-up event of her initiative, Artschoolnow Salon, at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman only because she and her associates would all be available on that day. It happened to be International Women’s Day. On the way to UP in her car, we easily settled into a...
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When we melt together
Italian painter Viviana Riccelli, currently based in the magical island of Siquijor, ushers us into Galleria Duemila where her new abstract paintings, collectively titled “Chaos,” are being exhibited until April 13. The exhibition welcomes us with a diptych, The Beginning of a Journey, mixed media on carton board on paper in which the field of...
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Women in a Masbate barangay champion education
After completing their chores, eight mothers in Barangay Tugbo in Masbate come together to take on another role: as literacy champions for themselves and their children. Erlinda Cabarles, a mother of seven, rises at 3 a.m. to do her household routine. While her family sleeps, she cooks, cleans, and prepares for the day. She is...