The Women’s Month of March is made more significant by the Tandang Sora Women’s Museum in Quezon City.

Now formally open to the public, the museum lies on the avenue named after “the mother of the Philippine Revolution”—a means to uphold the value of women and to perpetuate a culture where women hold significant roles in society, according to the visual artist Sandra Torrijos.

For some people, museums are simply repositories of the past to remind them of how our culture and society were curated from both abrupt and deliberate events. Others, however, see them as venues to display historical items as part of efforts to question the status quo and bring about social change.

For Torrijos, a museum should showcase the patriotic legacy of women heroes and leaders aside from Tandang Sora, formally known as Melchora Aquino (1812–1919).  

Since 1993, Torrijos has been gathering historical artifacts and contemporary pieces that would eventually transform an old house on Banlat Road in Quezon City into what is believed to be the first women’s museum in the country. 

“Women are leaders. Women can be leaders,” the artist said, speaking in Filipino. “This museum broadens and deepens the story of the entire Philippines.” 

The Tandang Sora Women’s Museum was inaugurated last Feb. 19, with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and other government officials and civic leaders in attendance.  

In the way that Tandang Sora tended to wounded revolutionaries in her home, the two-story museum designed by architect Gerard Lico is now a place for timeless narratives and visual arts. 

“Finally, the stories of our women now have a home,” Hontiveros said in her opening remarks. “Having this physical display and documentation of our women’s stories is an essential part of keeping our heritage alive…of protecting our collective memory as a people.” 

What the walls say

On display on the museum’s refurbished walls, corners and shelves are paintings, art pieces, literary works, figures of babaylan (priestesses), even anting-anting (amulets) and other remnants of the past.  

There is an art piece titled “Lola,” created by Kathleen Dagum and completed in 2024. It resembles an elderly figure made of cloth, wood, and acrylic, and is embellished with white entwined wires in the lower portion. 

Among the books are Jose Rizal’s “Women of Malolos” (1889) and “My Mother is More Than a Comfort Woman,” a collection of stories by different authors that trace the struggles of Filipino women forced into sexual servitude during the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s.

Some students were observed swarming over a rustic wooden chair, taking turns at sitting on it, and pretending to write on paper laid on the rugged antique oak table, as if reenacting a scene from a teleserye.

Ancient weapons and certain items used by Filipinos during the Spanish colonial era, such as the hand-woven Pis Yabit tapestry and a dark brown salakot (traditional rattan headwear) are also on display.

On the wall leading to the second floor is a painting of Tandang Sora, her face rendered in distinct yellow, green and red colors and backgrounds drawn in bold outlines and cubist-like shadows and highlights. 

A special section dedicated to her holds her memorabilia.

A corner is labelled “Isip at Gawa” (Thought and Deed) and displays stories of noted Filipino women in contemporary times, like the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize awardee Maria Ressa. 

In a sequestered section, four-foot wooden figures of women stand in the middle of tall partitions that annotate the accounts of those who championed women’s rights including the right to suffrage. 

Fighting prejudice

Mayor Belmonte pointed out in her own remarks that even to this day, gender prejudice sidelines women and prevents them from rising to the high positions of leadership that they deserve.

Hontiveros called on everyone to visit the museum and appreciate the freedoms that certain Filipino women had worked hard for. “Let us show to all Filipinos the richness of our arts and culture, and the beauty of our stories,” she said. “I am certain that with this museum, more women and Filipinos will be given guidance, knowledge and inspiration to stand up and fight for our beloved motherland.” 

Like those Filipino women who may not have set foot on the battleground but nonetheless pursued independence, the museum stands, not as a form of passive resistance, but as a determined effort to alter the image and circumstances of women today.

Raymond Aldo M. Mina, a fourth-year journalism student of Bicol University College of Arts and Letters, is an intern at CoverStory.ph.

The Tandang Sora Women’s Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. Admission is free until the end of March.