Gabriela’s 3rd Nominee is an Igorot Woman, Ex-OFW
Igorot woman, mother, and migrant leader,
Flora Baniaga-Belinan exemplifies Pinay power that is woven on the loom of
the women’s struggle for empowerment, justice and equality. A nominee of
Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP), she will be the strong voice in the House
for those who can’t be home – OFWs who are separated from their families
and country, and indigenous peoples (IP) who are stripped of their land
and cultural identity.
By Voltaire
Tupaz
Pinoy Era
Posted by Bulatlat
Igorot woman, mother,
and migrant leader, Flora Baniaga-Belinan exemplifies Pinay power that is
woven on the loom of the women’s struggle for empowerment, justice and
equality.
A nominee of Gabriela
Women’s Party (GWP), she will be the strong voice in the House for those
who can’t be home – OFWs who are separated from their families and
country, and indigenous peoples (IP) who are stripped of their land and
cultural identity.
Woman warrior: her
Sagada roots
Flora was given the
Igorot name “Konyap” when she was born to the Kankane-ey tribe of Sagada,
Mountain Province on March 12, 1958. She was raised in an indigenous
peasant family and community. Her father was a World War II veteran while
her mother was a farmer.
The challenging
circumstances of her childhood nurtured the fighter in her at a very young
age. The fourth among seven siblings, Flora at 13 had to help raise her
family when her mother passed away. From the small barrio in Sagada called
Madongo, she transferred to the town center to live with relatives.
While attending high school at St. Mary’s School, she would help sell her
aunt’s homemade brownies and would work in her relatives’ farm during
weekends.
To continue her
studies, Flora mainly supported herself as a working student and domestic
helper in Baguio City (246 kms. from Manila). After finishing high school
in Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF), she went to Saint Louis University (SLU)
where she obtained her B.A. Social Work in 1982.
Mother and social
worker
Flora started as an
organizer of the urban poor in Baguio City. Unemployed after graduation,
she joined the Urban Poor Assistance Center upon the invitation of an
activist uncle. Hence, the beginning of her social involvement.
Flora became very
active in her engagements as a social worker. In the course of her
organizing work, she immersed with the urban poor and was exposed to their
gut issues as well as to the plight of other marginalized sectors.
Eventually, she participated in various protest actions and other
community activities. Then came her resolve to be part of the movement for
social transformation at a time when the political and economic crisis in
the country continued to worsen under the crumbling Marcos dictatorship.
Organizing changed
many aspects of Flora’s life. In fact, it paved the way for her meeting
with Paul Belinan, her husband of 25 years. Paul was also from Sagada but
he only met Flora in Baguio. An advocate of workers’ rights, he has been
working for the Cordillera Labor Center for quite a long time already.
Flora and Paul have
raised two children – Michael, 24, who is now working with a progressive
local paper; and Michelle, 16, a nursing student.
Woman migrant
leader
Flora and her husband
were committed to their social causes but it was hard for them to support
the needs of their family from their limited income. Confronted with the
urgent need to survive, Flora made the difficult decision of leaving her
family to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong for 12 years.
However, Flora
unwaveringly pursued organizing work in Hong Kong. She founded and headed
the Pinatud A Saleng Ti Umili (organization of domestic workers
from Cordillera) even as she was still adjusting in the foreign land. She
also served as an adviser to the Cordillera Alliance-Hong Kong.
Tirelessly, she
gathered and organized fellow OFWs. They would maintain communication
through the phone and meet at a common place every weekend. Amidst her
preoccupation, she still found time to do volunteer work for a counseling
institution for distressed OFWs.
Under the banner of
Migrante International, Flora was at the forefront of various major
advocacies and struggles for the rights and welfare of migrants,
especially of women Filipino workers, in Hong Kong. Among these were the
victorious campaigns between 1998 and 2003 to stop wage cuts and to scrap
state exactions such as authentication fees. At present, together with
Filipino migrant groups, she is vigorously campaigning for the scrapping
of the new POEA Guidelines which seek to collect more fees and not to
protect domestic workers.
Flora has always
stood staunchly against violence perpetrated on women migrants including
rape and other forms of sexual abuse, maltreatment, and trafficking. She
is now taking the lead in the campaign for justice for OFW victims of
violence and government criminal neglect.
While in Hong Kong,
Flora also promoted indigenous peoples’ rights to land, life, and
resources, firmly opposing policies and projects in the homefront that
particularly cause the destruction of the environment and exploitation of
women indigenous peoples and children.
In 2005, she returned
home and founded the Migrante Chapter in Metro Baguio. Recently, she was
elected deputy secretary-general for external affairs of GWP.
For her steadfast
stance and commitment to promote and defend the rights and welfare of
women migrant workers, she was nominated as one of the top three standard
bearers of GWP, joining Mindanaoan educator Luz Ilagan and Rep. Liza Maza.
Pinoy Era / Posted by Bulatlat
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