And So It Begins: Women power
Just before National Heroes Day in the Philippines, four strong women dominated the screen in front of me: former Vice President Leni Robredo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and award-winning filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz at the Rockwell Cinema in Makati; and US Vice President Kamala Harris on cable TV at home.
My Assumption Convent high school class, of which Ramona is part, sponsored the screening of And So It Begins at the Rockwell Cinema. Our beloved Assumption nuns and former teachers were also present.
Though Leni Robredo lost by 15 million votes to President Bongbong Marcos in the presidential elections of 2022, as predicted in several pre-elections surveys, her campaign remains stunning. Hundreds of thousands escalating to millions spilling onto the streets during her campaign rallies; creative campaigning, to the level of theater, never seen before in the nooks and crannies of the urban centers; and a spirit that left many with mouths agape that despite all this, she had lost.
The Commission on Elections declared Mr. Marcos the winner, the world’s superpowers acknowledged the legitimacy of the elections, and US President Biden himself called up Mr. Marcos to congratulate him.
There was incredulity, followed by crying, on the streets; but there was also rejoicing from the ranks of the 31,104,175 Filipinos that had voted Mr. Marcos into office.
I have seen the campaigns of eight presidents from 1986 to 2022 and this one stood out because of its peaceful passion. But time fades memories, and memories of the campaign of 2022 are slowly being dulled by time and pressing national issues. Images of the campaign were vivid, but would time slowly subdue their intensity?
Mrs. Robredo has announced that she is not aspiring anymore for national office, and that she prefers to run for mayor of her beloved Naga City, a post her late husband Jesse Robredo held for three terms and was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize for.
So, should the movers and shakers of her campaign of 2022, volunteers mostly, feel orphaned?
As Leni herself said in the beginning of the film, “Sana sa ating pagbabalik tanaw, maipaalala sa ating lahat kung bakit at para saan ang ating laban, kung bakit ito nagpapatuloy at kung bakit sa kabila ng lahat kailangan tayong manindigan at kumilos para sa ating bayan. There’s still so much ahead for us. But for now, sit back and relax. Sabay-sabay ngumit, maluha at tumawa at mamangha habang binabalik tanaw ang lahat.”
Indeed Leni’s campaign of 2022 is worth remembering. Ramona Diaz agrees the film makes many nostalgic (some emerged from the theater teary-eyed), but believes it isn’t all about remembering.
“I made it because I wanted to bear witness to a moment in our history not so long ago – two years ago,” she said in a video message shared on social media.
“I also wanted to give it context. And also, it’s not just nostalgic, it is nostalgia, but it is also looking to the future,” she added.
Ramona preserves footage of both Leni’s mammoth and minute rallies. All euphoric. She also singles out volunteers who found creative ways to campaign: a gay beauty queen modeling a pink confection, veteran actors campaigning on the streets with poems, as well as song (Nica del Rosario’s Rosas). She also shows Marcos supporters standing their ground, as one storeowner valiantly and smilingly does, despite the pink juggernaut.
Part of the thread of And So It Begins’ narrative is the struggle of journalist Maria Ressa during the Duterte administration and her continuing fight versus disinformation to this day.
Ramona says she has not received any reaction from either President Marcos, whose mother was the subject of Ramona’s documentary Imelda, or President Duterte.
So what’s next?
And So It Begins is showing only in select theaters despite its PG rating. I urge you to catch it because the power of volunteerism can be harnessed even beyond elections, but especially during elections, no matter who you’re campaigning for. 2025 is just around the corner.
All 318 seats in the House of Representatives and 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate will be contested in the 2025 elections. Local elections will also be held for the executive and legislative branches in every province, city, and municipality in the country.
As Leni said in the beginning of And So It Begins, “There’s still so much ahead of us.”
***
When US Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party as their candidate for president of the United States in the November 2024 elections, it was euphoric and meaningful to me as well, as an Asian woman, and a career woman.
As former First Lady Michelle Obama said in her speech before the US Vice President spoke, “You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading all across this country we love. A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope, the anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division, and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation. The dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for. America, hope is making a comeback.”
Though she was addressing America, I knew exactly how Mrs. Obama felt, especially when she said, “Hope is making a comeback.”
Kamala Harris is the daughter of first-generation immigrants to the US: her mother was Indian, and her father is Jamaican. And today, she has a chance to be the first woman, and the first woman of color, to be the President of the United States, another first in US history.
“There’s another woman, whose name isn’t known, whose story isn’t shared. Another woman whose shoulders I stand on. And that’s my mother—Shyamala Gopalan Harris,” she said in her speech.
“She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people. To believe public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility.
“That led me to become a lawyer, a District Attorney, Attorney General, and a United States Senator.
“And at every step of the way, I’ve been guided by the words I spoke from the first time I stood in a courtroom: Kamala Harris, For the People.”
I don’t agree with Kamala Harris’ stand on abortion rights, but respecting others regardless of race and creed is a tenet she is fighting for.
And so it begins, here in the Philippines and in the United States. May the people win. *
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