Padayon

The significant participation of women in the workforce is brought about by several factors. First, the continuous depressing state of national economies worldwide has required the need of two income earners in each household. Single-headed households have difficulty in surviving increasing costs of living. It is now a necessity for women to take on productive work and be economically active because of the need to feed the family. Second, women are increasingly gaining ground in education. Opportunities for them to find work have risen due to skills and knowledge earned through getting schooled. Third, the rise in the service industry which prefers female labor. From manual skills to cerebral competence in this particular field of work, women has an inherent advantage over men due to their physiological dexterity and people skills they have honed as a result of their reproductive functions in the care economy which includes the household. However, despite this development which can gen...

I'm not the writer of the group. It was the K of Jakers. So I hope she wouldn't mind that I went first in telling the public part of our story. I'm not so sure exactly what level in our elementary days that happened - we melding as friends. It was sort of like little girls finding each other's company fun and tolerable. There were six of us in the beginning - J, A, K, E, R, and S. One short, one tall, one skiny, one plump, one curly, one straight. We were a mixture of various characters, too. One shy, one bold, one brave, one cold, one jelly, and one's a bit old. We weren't the pretty girls around but our mix made us popular in the crowd. Thinking about it, we were rather such an odd mix. But we liked each other a lot and grew up loving each other profusely. The JAKERS metamorphosed into an expanded group of young ladies with double Js and double As. Later, the new J and A eventually replaced the old J and A as far as attendance to group activities was concerned...

Kimberly, I think, was her name. She died in battle between government forces and communist insurgents. Her pretty and youthful face was in the front page of PDI last week with a story of an idealist, fresh out of college, taking the bullet for the principles she believed was worth dying for. Twenty years ago, I was in the same situation as she was. Thinking about it, I am glad that I survived the struggle and still alive living a mainstreamed life. Luck may have played a great part of making it through but a lot of lipat-bahay and pagpag helped break the patterns. Looking back, I do not regret making that decision and I would do it again if the circle comes around. Surely, Kimberly did not die a futile death. It was hers to offer for the belief that her sacrifice was, though a minute step, a contribution to attain a more noble and humane society for all.