Painting the Town Pink: An Afternoon with Councilor Mayen Juico

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Written by Pia L. Camagay / Photos by Renz Baluyot

A typical day at the Quezon City Hall can be characterized as tense, dour, and perhaps for some, even dull. To the outsider, the halls are but a monochromatic dishevelment. Unbeknownst to them, hidden behind the unrelieved panels of the legislative wing is the office of Councilor Mayen Juico.

Mayen Juico – young, beautiful, and poised. One would have mistaken her for a celebrity rather than a politician. Her office felt a little out of place in the City Hall. One side of the wall was painted a vivid pink, and the furniture looked like it belonged to a dollhouse rather than a local government office.

Most people do not know that Councilor Mayen is actually the woman behind the Anti-Catcalling Ordinance in Quezon City (QC). The Anti-Catcalling Ordinance, otherwise known as the Gender and Development Code, imposes penalty (i.e. fine and jail term) for acts considered as street harassment. It was signed in 2016. Since then, QC, the biggest city in the Philippines, has recreated itself as the safest city in the country.

The issue of catcalling has been gaining a lot of traction in the past few years. People from various sectors of society have been joining the discourse because the problem is not only something that concerns women – it is, sadly, something that is embedded within the national culture.

Councilor Mayen admits that she herself has also been a victim of catcalling. “Not even just one time, a number of times. Too many times, too many times than you would care to recall. I’ve been a victim of not just sexual harassment, sexual violence. Believe me, I’ve been through all of it. That also kind of propelled me to all the more fight for the [passing of the ordinance],” she shared.

In fact, ironically, when asked about the challenges she faces as a female politician, the issue of harassment came up once again. “When we go down to the barangay (or not even the barangay) there is always that risk of harassment. There are people who will hold your hand a little longer, whose hands will crawl down to beyond your waist. There is also that risk that they will assume that some tasks are not for you because you are female,” she said.

But despite these challenges, Councilor Mayen continues to break stereotypes – she is a woman who has embraced her femininity in a man’s world. “There is a strength in femininity that is not stereotypical of strength,” she said, while talking about all the strong women who have influenced her – her mother and her boss, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, among others. They are, perhaps, the biggest reasons why she keeps going and why she has managed to stay true to her advocacies.

Aside from pioneering the Gender and Development Code, she also the pioneered the passing of the Ordinance Against Discrimination on the Basis of SOGIE – which gave birth to the existence of LGBT help desks in QC.

“There is a strength in femininity that is not stereotypical of strength.”

Yes, there is a myriad of challenges for female politicians like Councilor Mayen, but for her, there is nothing more rewarding than serving people: “One of the reasons why I entered public service was that desire to effect change and in whatever little way that you can. And that’s precisely what I’ve done with [the Anti-Catcalling] Ordinance and with the SOGIE Ordinance. Like with the SOGIE ordinance, I’ve had lesbians, gays who I do not know, I’ve never seen, come up to me and say, “Thank you. Thank you for that.” You would think, sometimes, that the job is a little thankless because you’re [just] there, defending it. People don’t even know that there exists a law that is such, but then you have people that come up to you and say, “Thank you,” and then somehow you feel, “Okay, it’s not that bad.”

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Councilor Mayen with SPARK Executive Director Maica Teves, Program Manager Ham Chanjueco, Project Officer Pia Camagay, and Intern Megumi Tacastacas

Because of Councilor Mayen and the ordinances she passed, QC is now a safer space for men, women, and LGBTs alike. And because they feel safe, they also feel more empowered.

But beyond passing ordinances and laws, Councilor Mayen believes that there is a better way to empower women: “I think the best way to empower women is to everyday live an empowered life for your fellow women. So I feel that it is to everyday, you walk your talk and you live your life as an empowered woman no matter how hard it is because there are days that it gets hard. So I feel that’s it. So maybe by law of osmosis, we will be able to touch each other and will be a more empowered specie.”

“I think the best way to empower women is to everyday live an empowered life for your fellow women.”

Thank you, Councilor Mayen! You are an inspiration.

 

Increasing Queer Women’s Visibility is Women’s Empowerment

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by: Renz Baluyot, SPARK Intern 2018

Straight women by themselves are commonly discriminated against—second-class citizens for most of the world thus giving birth to movements linked to women that would otherwise be mere actions aimed towards equality: feminism, women’s suffrage and women empowerment.
These things, too, reflect on the LGBTQIA+ community. Gay men have always been the bigger poster boys for equality—with the Philippines, barely having a cesspool of female homosexual films. This leaves people uninformed about the micro-culture of lesbians, FTM (female to male) transsexuals and of course, bisexuals. It seems that even though the concept of a “girl crush” for girls—implying a cute light-hearted attraction for another female with no actual intent of pursuit, is fairly common and acceptable, it is still unclear how female-on-female relationships work.
According to a PEW Research Center study entitled “The Global Divide on Homosexuality”, the Philippines ranks first in Asia for being accepting of Homosexuality; A solid seventy-eight percent(78%), proudly say they’re accepting of homosexuals. Spain ranks at number 1 globally with 88%. They, with Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Australia are the only countries that are more accepting than the Philippines.
Spain, Germany, and Canada allow same-sex marriage. The Czech Republic hasn’t granted same-sex marriage but has allowed registered partnerships and even sex change. In the Philippines, only Quezon city and the provinces of Davao and Albay have anti-discrimination ordinances. A little less than half of the countries have already passed equitable laws for LGBTs, but how come the way-higher-than-average tolerant Philippines hasn’t done anything for the progression of LGBT rights?
Queer woman representation lies deep in the cracks of media, discussion and society. One could easily parallel queer characters in mass media (being limited to so few who either adhere to out-dated tropes or as token characters to otherwise banal plotlines) to the even smaller group of female characters in the circle of these limited queer characters—women lie in the margins of the margin themselves and for them to be heard and understood they have to scream twice as loud.
It’s important to talk about queer women’s visibility. We’re otherwise constrained to our perception and stereotypes in our heads—butch lesbians and women who’ve shaved half their heads. We should ask: Where are those in between the gaps? Nasaan ang mga lesbiyanang ina? Nasaan ang ang babaeng Maximo Oliveros? Ang mga babaeng silahis na minamasdan hindi sa lente ng kalalakihan—makatotohanang pagkukwento sa buhay ng isang lesbiyana ayon sa lesbiyana?
The more we familiarize ourselves and the less we alienate females in the LGBTQIA+ community, the further we progress. We will no longer fear for we understand, we know and we’ve made them visible for the rest of us. Let’s talk about queer women, open doors to build bridges, and let us bust women’s closets wide open.

May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia,  Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOTB). SPARK is one with the global community in pushing for the rights of people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) because Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transwomen are women too.

Ambassador Bita Rasoulian: A Woman of Substance by Alyssa Salcedo

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Ambassador Bita with SPARK’s interns

“It kind of came by chance. But as life has it, if you’re ready, you can grasp the opportunities when they come in your way.” These were the exact words of Bita Rasoulian, the ambassador of Austria to the Philippines, when asked about how she started her diplomatic career.

It was 33 degrees outside but even a hint of the weather’s temperature didn’t percolate on me as I sat down in one of the offices of the Austrian Embassy in Manila. I, together with my fellow interns had the opportunity to interview Ambassador Rasoulian. When she entered the room, everyone was just astonished by her presence. She is a resemblance of what success looks like. As soon as she started speaking she proved that she was every bit of it.

Her smile lit up the room as she began talking about her interests and love for the arts, celebrating the Klimt year and plans on doing artists residency program exchange between Filipino and Austrian artists.

The Austria and the Philippines have diplomatic relations for 71 years now. It has been 8 months since Rasoulian became the ambassador of the Austria to the Philippines. “We think there’s a lot of potential in the bilateral relations.” She expressed how Asia has a dynamic and growing market. She also gave us an overview of some of Austria’s priorities at the helm of the OSCE 2017 and as upcoming Chair of the Council of the European Union such as pressing issues regarding migration, terrorism, cybercrime, human trafficking and development interconnectivity. She pointed out a few of the transnational challenges that countries face and how to cooperate more closely together.

Concerning the issue on the subject about face cover ban in Austria, Ambassador Rasoulian clarified that the main idea of it is to facilitate integration and the assimilation so that you don’t stand out for any reason but you’re totally assimilated into the culture. It can mainly be on court rooms, public rooms and public establishments. There was never an intention to discriminate but rather a more reason to help them.

She also shared about her views in increasing awareness towards Gender-Based Violence. She strongly believes that making small beginnings can eventually lead to bigger outcome. “I think there are many ways to approach that and you have to see which audience you are targeting and what they’re more receptable to.” She’s the kind of leader who wants to see it in practice reaching the people. But more than that, she wants to send a message to all victims of Gender-Based Violence that everybody’s behind them and that they shouldn’t be afraid because their agenda is our agenda.

But Assambador Bita Rasoulian had her own share of struggles, being in the diplomatic field where it is male dominated and a perception that men have all the characteristics to lead and women should simply follow is already a face of discrimination. “There’s always these moments where I’m confronted with and I think that it’s important to let women know what their worth, what their capable of and to trust them, give them your confidence and put your trust in them so that you’ll know that they can.”

Being empowered is important and it begins with a bit of self awareness. It starts very early, so whenever her 17 year old son keeps telling her 13 year old daughter to do this and that, she would immediately tell her daughter to make herself heard and stand up for her rights. It’s something that parents must invest in their kids because it makes their path in life so much easier when they become adults.

Although entering the diplomat service wasn’t one of the things she planned growing up but she still made her way becoming the woman she is now. In fact, she was one the youngest in her batch to enter the service. She also learned to love it as she explores different continents in the world. Her passion gives her the drive to do better in everything that she does. She expressed how they are open in the embassy in any kind of cooperation as long as she can see the sincerity and substance of the project.

Being assigned to Venezuela as part of her final trial period taught her a lot of things. She was a bit scared out there but she described it as a fabulous experience. As for coming to the Philippines, she feels lucky enough to be in the country of her fist choice. According to her it’s a country that has a welcoming society, she loves the open mentality of the people and the embracing nature that we have.

In my almost-two-hours encounter with Ambassador Bita Rasoulian, I can truly say that she is a woman of substance. She radiates a pure heart, she always has a vision and she’s very passionate about what she’s doing.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from her it has to be staying true to my values and more importantly to myself. I don’t have to change for anyone or go under anyone’s shadow just to please them. As what she have said “you always face this challenge as a woman and you have to learn to make yourself heard.” And that is something that I must work on each and every day of my life.