Bigueñas As Great Influencers Aren’t Born, They Are Built To

A woman has a beautiful soul. However she appears in her youth, it is the soul that will show in her every feature as she ages. Bigueña women are characterized by patience, determination, nurturance, sensitivity, understanding, and endless love. And what better way to herald their successes than to look to female heroine, record-breakers, and feminist pioneers paving the way for their gender in their respective fields? It is no other than women empowerment. Empowering Bigueña women will allow them to promote their sense of self-worth, their ability to lead and serve for us in every field they want to and their rights to influence social change not just for themselves but also for others.

Bigueñas already had the integrity courage, and patriotism to embodies women empowerment that, at present, inspire the advocacy for the fair recognition of both women and men, and for gender equality in general. Going through the history of Vigan City, its first woman leader Eva Marie Singson-Medina became the architect of its progress. She is a distinguished woman who has devoted so much of her time, talent, resources and most especially her wisdom in making Vigan City to what it is now. She is a staunch advocate of women and children’s rights, patroness of heritage conservation, an innovator, a visionary, an honest and fair leader, worth emulating and appreciating. She was truly an exemplary and magnificent leader because she is not just a community builder, an advocate of women empowerment, a distinguished public servant with humility and compassion but she is also a model pillar of her family especially to her children. She is one of those who proves that being a leader is not only for men but also for a woman like her to serve and perform duties for people.

Consequently, aside from her we all know there were also a lot of Bigueñas public servants not only those who were in political but also those who were working and performing their duties and responsibilities in the field of medicine, education, policy, arts, culture, entertainment and other more. In our situation right now, in the midst of pandemic, we can see Bigueño and Bigueña health workers and front liners who are currently helping in the COVID- 19 situation. Although hospitals are very high risk for nosocomial infection and other communicable and non-communicable diseases, they choose to spend their time in hospitals rather than at their homes to do their duties and responsibilities in taking care the needs of others especially those who are sick to get well and feel better. Sacrificing their lives especially now, in times of pandemic even though they, themselves often lose their sense of self-care and wellness. At this point, Bigueña women also enter the job of being a police officer or a soldier that some will be wondering why since being in that position is very risky and it should be only for men. However, the need to recruit, train and promote more female officers is receiving far more attention than ever before. Bigueña police officers may not have the brute strength of Bigueño, but their bravery, creativity and verbal skills make them ideal for the job.

An empowered Bigueña is no more like a burden. She works relentlessly and often putting more hours than are there in just a single day: chopping, cleaning, cooking, nursing and still managing to look fresh all the time. She essays different roles, that of mother, wife, daughter, friend, counselor, all at once; juggling it all to perfection. They had gain power and can control their own lives, the ability to determine her own choices, and her right to influence social change for herself and others. An empowered Bigueña were also able to voice out her opinions and contribute to greater peace in their home cities. They also urged to continue sharpening their skills and abilities which they can use to become more productive in their own families and their home cities. Not only in various fields do women help and contributes a lot but also they become the foundation of good fortune in appreciating, preserving and valuing life that God gave to us. The role of Bigueña women is so sacred because they are the custodians of the source of life and teach every generation the value of life, the value of ourselves. She helps her neighbor and other people with initiative and without asking for compensation. Willing to sacrifice her pleasure and material things in exchange for more important priorities, without hesitation.

Bigueñas are worthy of being treated like Goddess or Queen and no less. They are truly queens who have strong moral compasses with values every single day in their daily lives. Queens who don’t care about ignorant opinions of others. Queens who are bold and fearless risk takers despite of all such horrible things happening to them, they still manage to handle the things that are thrown at them and face obstacles and challenges with perseverance and determination. They don’t need a crown to be a queen. Their courage to fight for their beliefs and willingness to sacrifice their lives are what makes them royalty. Upliftment and empowerment of women is something we should be championing every day not just during Women's Month. So, I am hoping that the empowerment of Bigueña women will continue in the future because the power, wisdom and strength every Bigueña women holds is unique, unparalleled and no one can beat.

Multimedia Reference:

Beautiful soul of a woman, not just pretty face, but confident, brave, smart, kind quote

https://pixels.com/featured/beautiful-soul-nadia-emilia.html

Ilocano Bigueña People

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilocano_people

Empowering Women

https://www.pressenza.com/2020/12/empowering-women-through-wisdom/

https://www.borgenmagazine.com/economic-social-empowerment-women/

Every Woman Deserves To Be Treated Like A Queen

https://keepcalms.com/p/every-woman-deserves-to-be-treated-like-a-queen/