Women are superior to men in the Philippines!

I love women. They’re the best thing ever created. If they want to be like men and come down to our level, that’s fine. – US actor Mel Gibson

A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty. – 1907 Nobel Prize-winning British writer Rudyard Kipling

Man has will, but woman has her way. – 19th century US writer and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes

Why is it that women live longer than men?" e-mailed Sterling Paper Group boss Henry Lim Bon Liong to this writer. His answer: "It’s because shopping doesn’t cause heart attacks, but paying the bills does!"

One of the e-mails I got in response to our column last month on the most powerful businessmen in the Philippines, IT entrepreneur Myla Villanueva of MDI Group, asked me to do a similar piece on the most powerful businesswomen. The e-mailer said, "You should also do one on women someday! Gosh, we need more of them in business!"

Off the top of my head and without conducting a survey, I’ll just rattle off the names of the most powerful businesswomen based on their impact on the economy and on society as a whole: Equitable PCIBank vice chairman and SM Group heiress Tessie Sy-Coson; Philippine STAR columnist and Summit Media boss Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng; National Bookstore founder Socorro C. Ramos; SSS boss Corazon de la Paz, Regal Entertainment founder Mother Lily Y. Monteverde; and Unilab chairman Jocelyn Dee Campos-Hess.

Coincidentally, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng’s Marie Claire magazine celebrated its first anniversary last Oct. 27 at Ayala Museum, Greenbelt 4, Makati, with editor-in-chief Myrza Sison leading the awarding of the "10 Marie Claire Women of the World" for 2006. Through this recognition of 10 outstanding women, Marie Claire said it wants to inspire and empower women. How were the Maria Claras of Dr. Jose Rizal’s era different from or similar to Marie Claire’s 10 awardees?

1. Angel Aquino. This award-winning actress and model, 33, said: "I don’t like shortchanging the people I work with, but I expect the same from everyone."

I have a high regard for Angel, not only because of her looks and her being a good single parent, but more for her not relying on sleaze and cheap gimmicks to gain acting jobs or tawdry tabloid publicity.

2. Luchi Cruz-Valdes. This 45-year-old broadcast journalist said: "Even if only one viewer was positively changed or moved by my story, that, to me, is an achievement."

I hope she and other levelheaded broadcast journalists can sway the major TV and radio stations to cleanse what I describe as the "gutter journalism" of senseless gossip, mindless violence or sensationalism, which nowadays tend to dominate our airwaves. Let us stop feeding the masses garbage!

3. Lizzie Zobel. This children’s literacy and family planning advocate, 41, founded Friendly Care, a reproductive rights organization, and Sa Aklat Sisikat, a children’s literacy movement.

I believe it is refreshing that a woman from the traditional power elite has courageously taken up the cudgels for the reproductive rights of women through her support for family planning. Family planning is sadly one of the glaring failures of the present government led, ironically, by a woman: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

4. Laura Verallo de Bertotto. This 34-year-old entrepreneur and CEO of VMV Hypoallergenics, the first Filipino hypoallergenic cosmeceutical firm, attributes her success to "studying, patterning and perseverance."

5. Gabby de la Merced. She is a race car driver and, at 24, one of two female drivers competing in the Asian Formula 3 series this month.

6. Jo Ann Bitagcol. This 28-year-old photographer and model in Paris said there is no big secret to success: "You just need to know what you want and the things that are important to you."

7. Yoly Ong-Villanueva. She is the boss of Campaigns & Grey advertising agency. The 55-year-old businesswoman considers her kids to be her greatest achievement, saying: "My children are growing up into good persons. In a fearful world of drugs, apathy and violence, they are wonderfully level-headed and focused in their endeavors."

8. Ma. Elena Bautista. She is the 37-year-old head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and newly-appointed Transportation and Communication Undersecretary for Maritime and Special Concerns. She follows the prayer "Desiderata," which espouses having "the sincerity to do good, and the courage to do what is right."

9. Anna Leah Sarabia. This 52-year-old women’s rights advocate, executive director of the Women’s Media Circle and president of the Kalakasan Foundation for women against violence attributes her success to commitment, hard work and clarity of vision.

10. Nora Daza. This culinary expert, book author and TV personality also takes pride in the success of her children Sandy and Nina. When asked for her success secret, this 78-year-old media maven simply said: "I love what I do."

Unlike other male chauvinist societies, such as Japan or certain Middle Eastern states, I believe the Philippines is actually macho only outwardly, while in reality it is under the saya (meaning henpecked or dominated by women). From the street-side food stalls run by women among the urban poor to the multitudes of nurses, domestic helpers, care-givers and other female overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the women of the Philippines are generally superior to the Filipino men in terms of importance, hard work, sense of responsibility, maturity and usefulness to their families and to the nation. I’m not saying this because I want to be elected senator next year, but because it’s the unvarnished truth!

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, by hook or by crook, has continuously stunned pundits and vanquished two of the most powerful symbols of Filipino machismo – former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada and the late "King of Philippine Movies" Fernando Poe, Jr. She has even outfoxed other machos like alleged military coup plotter ex-Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan. Even her spouse, First Gentleman Atty. Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, seems meek and obedient vis-à-vis the fiery Dragon Lady of Malacañang Palace.

In the opposition camp, there are equally formidable women who challenge the President, namely former President Cory C. Aquino (who achieved her late husband’s elusive dream of the presidency), vice-presidential bet Loren Legarda (who has eclipsed the political success of her ex-husband Tony Leviste), actress Susan Roces, Senator Loi Ejercito Estrada (who has remarkably sailed through perilous Philippine politics without creating scandals similar to those of her husband’s), congresswoman Imee Marcos (who seems to have more fire and spunk than her younger brother, Governor Bongbong Marcos), senatorial candidate Sonia Roco (who was an outstanding student leader alongside her future husband Senator Raul Roco) and Senator Pia Cayetano (who might outshine her late dad as a political leader).

Do you know why I sincerely believe the Philippines will inevitably achieve a better future? It’s because of the superior brains, better character and inner strength of most women, which can more than compensate for and offset the shenanigans and boundless immaturity of us swaggering menfolk in this republic!

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