by Perla Paredes Daly, 1998.
I had been surfing the Web since 1995 and for the longest time I had never found a Web site that was specifically targeted for Filipinas and created by Filipinas. The fact never really bothered me at all because I never had the need to visit one, really.
But, once in 1996, out of curiosity, I surfed to "www.filipina.com" just to see what I would get...As I hit the enter-button I thought I would found a zine that Filipinas could take advantage of.
Instead, I had come to a Mail-Order-Bride Web page! Aaaah! I felt shock, dismay, embarrassment, outrage and sadness. I had found not a Web site that Filipinas could take advantage of, but rather, one that misrepresents and takes advantage of the name of "Filipina." (I recently got a letter from a Mr. Lee about my previous statement about www.filipina.com being a site for MOBs. )
Little by little, after that, a number of circumstances started coming together in my thoughts and an idea of starting a Web site for Filipinas started to crystallize in my mind.
I distinctly remember talking to Elke about it last year during a summer vacation. We were up very late in the lounge of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan talking about oh...lotsastuff. One thing we talked about was an apparent rising number of accidental pregnancies in the Philippines and how hard it made the lives of those involved. . . Wasn't there a way that older women could tell young women how to avoid the same pitfalls that they fell in? How many of us older, sadder, wiser women say to ourselves "If I only knew then what I know now"? Wouldn't we have acted differently in many situations way back when? Wouldn't we have known better? I wished, somehow, that within a network women who made mistakes or did things the hard way could relate to younger women what to watch out for. How could we Filipina womenfolk help each other on a wider scale?
Anyway, of the circumstance that I am talking about the first has a lot to do with all of ourselves as Filipinas. In the Philippines and abroad. Because the first circumstance is about gender and race stereotypes, of ignorance, and of double standards.
The second circumstance has to do with a new movement here in the U.S. It is the rising popularity of self-improvement and empowerment awareness. These kind of books, audiotapes, and videocassettes are so popular now. (At least I think they are terrific). Even Oprah Winfrey's shows are geared more towards these kind of positive things. Maybe this is why she herself stays strong and grows strong with her viewership and with herself. Empowerment. What a great thing. And again, I found myself wanting these things for my kababayan, and especially for my sister Pinays.
The last circumstance that brought it all together was recognizing the potential of a World Wide Web site. I was a Web designer and had already created my own Filipino identity type Web site on People Power. So why not start one about Filipina identity and empowerment! A Web site could really tie these circumstances all together. Yes. It really could . . .
But, it wasn't until six months later that I finally decided to DO something about it and not just THINK about doing something.
February 5th, I very quickly chose the domain of www.newfilipina.com. I chose "NEWFilipina" because i meant for there to be a NEW representation of the word Filipina on the internet as opposed to what filipina.com had rought about so far. I had a hard time choosing a domain name for the web site and i finally chose that and bought it from InterNIC.net. There! No turning back now. This was the beginning!
But from there, I didn't know where to start. So, I sat down and typed in some words. The first words that I typed-out were "Filipina Empowerment."
Again, what next? I was all over the place. Too many reasons. Too much excitement. My mind was going 100MPH but getting nowhere. So I decided to use the power of the Internet and ask for help. I e-mailed as many Filipino Netizens that I knew of or could find and asked them to help me and/or to forward my message about new Filipina Web site to as many Pinoys as they could.
The response I got back from that first mailing was tremendous. The idea for the site got a whole lot of encouragement and support and I got a whole lot of ideas that helped give shape to what the site was going to be like.
My very creative and crazy(this personality combo seems to be common, heheh) friend Elke was one of the first to come forward to help. She was all FOR the idea. We got together one weekend, brainstormed and took notes like crazy.
Later, Tish Perez came aboard when she read my feeble attempts at writing an intro for the site. The essence and ideas were there and it all must've fired her up. She started talking about it with her friends and then she came back to me with some pretty powerful suggestions and questions. She really was key in guiding my efforts unto a well-defined course.
From then on we knew that we wanted the site to:
? Stimulate Filipinas'(and Filipinos') thoughts and encourage discussions and open forums.
? Give Filipinas(and Filipinos) a place to voice their opinions.
? Help educate and increase awareness on life choices and issues.
? Foster understanding between Filipinas from different social, cultural and financial backgrounds.
? Help foster pride among Filipinas and for fellow Filipinas who have overcome hardships and/or done well for themselves in the homeland and around the world.
? Give Filipinas an online identity that they can be proud of and at the same time help redefine the Filipina's image to herself, to her countrymen, and to the world.
As of this June 1998, our mission of Filipina empowerment has now since given rise to a slew of other project ideas. We hope that the site will get a growing, dedicated following and that other projects for empowerment will reach fruition, too.
Tayo Na! Join us in our efforts.
And for starters, speak out here at the site.
Magsalita Ka!
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