Behind every successful woman is.

Herself.

Thus goes a poster I saw online. Though it “takes a village” to raise a child, and “behind every great man is a woman,” a woman needs only herself to become an exclamation point in life’s narrative.

Once restrained by cultural stereotypes, she has broken free in the last century and is making great strides in a man’s world.

Helping her out — aside from herself — are other women. One such group dedicated to bringing out the full potential of other women are the Soroptimists.

Soroptimism means “the best for women” or “women at their best helping others to be their best.” Since its founding in the Philippines by Mariquita Castelo, the Soroptimist Club in the Philippines has upheld this credo.

This year, the club has decided to honor outstanding achievers from within the club, with the Mariquita S. Castelo Centennial Leadership Award.

According to Minda Garcia, incoming governor of the Soroptimist International of the Philippines Region (SIPR), “Year 2012 is a significant year for us, as it marks the 100th birth anniversary of the SIPR founder, Mariquita S. Castelo, a civic worker and educator par excellence.”

The Soroptimist International of the Philippines Region (SIPR) recently launched the Mariquita S. Castelo Centennial Leadership Award at the Bulong Pulungan at Sofitel. In photo are (from left): Cora Manimbo, Yoli Hernandez, incoming SIPR governor Minda Garcia and past governors Teresita Choa and Gladys Tiongco.

The first Soroptimist club in the country was known as the Soroptimist Club of Greater Manila. It was affiliated with the Soroptimist International of the Americas (founded in 1921) and received its charter in Malacañang on May 5, 1966.

Today, there are 80 Soroptimist clubs in the Philippines, with more than 2,000 dedicated members, composed of women from business and the professions. The organization has remained apolitical all these years.

The Soroptimists are known for taking care of the Women’s Desks of the Philippine National Police, which were established by law in 1998, “to administer and attend to cases involving crimes against chastity, sexual harassment, abuses committed against women and children and other similar offenses.”

Though not solely responsible for the maintenance of each women’s desk in police precincts, Soroptimists help many women find justice through their support of these desks. They augment PNP funds needed to make sure these desk are functioning — and welcoming to terrified abused women.

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To pay tribute to Castelo on her centennial, the SIPR launched the Mariquita S. Castelo Centennial Leadership Award recently at the Bulong Pulungan media forum at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

Present during the launching were Teresita Choa, the first and only Filipina to become president of Soroptimist International of the Americas, SIPR incoming governor Minda Garcia, Cora Manimbo, Yolanda Hernandez and SIPR past governor Gladys Tiongco.

The search is exclusive to members of Soroptimist clubs in the country. Any nominee must have initiated a civic program that improved the quality of life of her respective community, along Soroptimist advocacy or instituted by any volunteer organization.

Deadline for the submission of nominees is on March 15, 2013 and the awarding of winners will be on Aug. 30, 2013 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. (For inquiries, call Yolanda Hernandez at 939-2115.)

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Chartering of the first Soroptimist International Philippines Club on May 5, 1966 at Malacañang.

Who is Mariquita Castelo and why does her work outlive her? The Soroptimist Club that she founded in 1966 now has 80 clubs throughout the country, with a membership of some 2,000 women, who are either businesswomen or professionals. Their main goal is to improve the lives of women and girls in their communities and around the world.                                                                                                                                     

A graduate of Education of the University of the Philippines-Manila, Castelo was the first national executive of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (founded by another woman leader before her time, Josefa Llanes Escoda). Castelo, the daughter of farmers from Nueva Ecija, is credited with helping organize Girl Scout councils throughout the country, serving as GSP national executive for 30 years.

In 1964, just as she thought she had reached the peak of her career with the GSP, she met two Soroptimists in the US.

According to an article written by Yolanda Hernandez, a Soroptimist herself, Castelo “took up the challenge of introducing the (Soroptimist) concept in the Philippines.” In 1964, she started recruiting qualified women in business and the professions to form the first Soroptimist Club in the Philippines. With 18 respected women professionals as members, the Soroptimist Club of Greater Manila was born in 1966.

Mariquita passed away in 2003. She never married but she lives on through the Soroptimist Club she founded and the GSP that she had helped flourish.

Women like Mariquita Castelo were undoubtedly honed and influenced by other outstanding individuals. But what she did with what she had learned and imbibed from them is her own achievement. And so I would say that behind the success of this woman leader was another woman. Herself.

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