The New Filipina
An interview with Omehra Sigahne.
Before 1998 if you searched online for ‘Filipina’ (Google wasn’t a thing yet — I checked) everything you found online pertaining to Filipina women was exclusively mail order bride sites, porn sites or sex tourism sites — all run by men.
This is what Filipina feminist and activist Omehra Sigahne discovered in the the mid ‘90s.
Disturbed by what she found, Omehra decided to take action by founding the first online community for Filipina women at www.newfilipina.com, called BagongPinay. It was an edgy site whose mission was to help empower Filipinas everywhere, and at the same time, fight Filipina stereotypes online.
The website has since evolved, but back in the day Omehra used newfilipina.com to continue her feminist work and connect with and empower other Filipinas. She’s also spoken at conferences and won awards for her work.
I had the privilege of asking Omehra about her experiences as an activist and feminist.
My questions and her answers below!👇
N: Tell me more about newfilipina.com
O: I bought the domain of newfilipina.com because filipina.com was the mail order bride site that described Filipina women like they were some commodity to buy and then behave like perfect, submissive, obedient, wives in some strange man’s home. It was this website that compelled me to create a website that would represent Filipinas in a more truthful, inspiring, and empowering way.
Because of the work of BagongPinay online, I began connecting with Filipina leaders, writers, business women, educators in the Philippines, the U.S. and around the world. I was invited to speak about using the internet for business and representation at a 2000 conference hosted by two Filipina organizations — the Filipino Women’s Network, the Filipina American Women’s Network — and one of the biggest Fil-Am magazines, Filpinas Magazine, in the Bay Area. There, the website received the Babaylan Award, and the publisher of Filipinas Magazine — also the chairwoman of the FAWN conference — asked me to host the next conference in New York City.
N: What led you to become an activist?
O: When I was growing up on the island province of Negros Occidental, I learned about privilege and poverty. I had gone to an all girls school run by Benedictine nuns, and it was mostly attended by the daughters of the upper-class landowners. Although I had a happy childhood in the province, I felt this urgent need to get away from the cliquish social circles. I decided to go to a Jesuit college. There I was stunned by their school motto of nurturing students to become “men and women for others” who would create a positive difference in society. This woke up my desire to serve in some manner.
I transferred my sophomore year and ended up at the [Universities of Philippines Diliman], which was an ongoing place of student activism. It was there that I began participating in student activism protests, marching with other students against the injustice and abuses of the dictatorial Marcos government.
N: Have you ever experienced any consequences for protesting?
O: When I was participating as a student activist against the Marcos Regime and then later in the protests of People Power in 1986, I was lucky enough to never get shot, tear-gassed or imprisoned. It was common for students, journalists and citizens who protested against injustice to be taken away to military camps, to be shot and killed, or to disappear. At a defensive stand during People Power 1986 at Channel 4, we did see people get shot and killed by machine-gun fire.
N: Who are other Filipina feminist activists who inspire you?
O: Many! My biggest inspiration came from Sister Mary John Mananzan. She’s published many books on feminism and religion in the Philippines. She was an educator, an academic, and a religious scholar. She was a pioneer in Asia for raising the role of women in the Church and society. During People Power 1986, nuns like her were leading the protests against the army! In 2005, she came to speak at the FAWN conference I had chaired in NYC. Mila Aguilar is her sister, a poet and activist who was imprisoned during the Marcos regime for being vocal about the injustices of the time. Mila was the first Filipina who gave me guidance and contributed to the creation the newfilipina.com. Last is Delia Aguilar, who was one of the first feminist scholars of the Philippines. I read her books to expose myself to Filipina feminism.
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The work of Omehra Sigahne, others like her, and organizations like the Filipina Women’s Network are vital.
Today in 2018 the domain ‘filipina.com’ is still used for the sex trafficking of Filipina women.
Keep up with Omehra at newfilipina.com. Omehra is also a life coach and offers many creative services as well.
