What is #BabaeAko?
The heart and soul of #BabaeAko is Zena Bernardo. I first met Zena in 2016, sometime in May during the presidential campaign when Duterte announced that he was going to bury Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani. I was furious. And alone. At least I felt alone. In one of the articles I read about that burial I came across her name and learned she founded and admined “Never Again to Marcos Family and his Cronies.”
I had to meet her. Here was a woman who like me was furious because of what the future admin promised. So I searched for her in Facebook and chatted with her immediately. That was the start of a strong friendship and my steadfast admiration, respect, and awe at this woman who raised all four of her children at a very young age almost single-handedly. Who spent most of her life involved in dozens of advocacies helping women, children, the poor, people living with mental health issues, and anyone else who needed a strong but loving hand to empower them. She speaks her mind regardless of how weak or how powerful the enemy is and would fight to the death if she had to. And the beauty of her courage lies in her need to help others.
Though Zena is not just a woman for others, she’s not just a human being for humanity, and she’s not just a champion of justice and a kick-ass patriot and “aktivist” (her word), no. More than all that she is also a great and loyal friend. She is always the first to rescue anyone she loves, any time, anywhere, anyhow. She’s the first to come running to your side with her red lipstick on, angry with you, happy with you, laughing with you, crying with you. If I were stranded on an island, I wouldn’t choose to be with Michael Fassbender. I’d choose to be with Zena because I know she’d get us home (and she’d make me laugh while waiting). That’s how much faith I have in this woman.
If we were all Zenas women wouldn’t need to fight for equal rights. If we were all Zenas instead of posting about how sucky it is to be living in this day and age we’d be posting about food and cats. If we were all Zenas we’d ALL be gorgeous and know it and flaunt it. If we were all Zenas, we wouldn’t be where we are today, back to square one fighting a fascist who cares more about exerting his power over the weak rather than uplifting them.
Though I am not anything like her I can, at the very least try to walk the talk every single God-given day she does.
I always half-jokingly call her Superwoman. And the truth is there is a little bit of Superwoman (or man) in all of us but what sets her apart is she proudly wears the cape. It makes me proud to be standing on the same side with her. Makes me fucking proud na #BabaeAko.
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Bitchin’ top photo taken by KR Raposas
