It was a peaceful Thursday afternoon in a small town just outside of Cebu where I was speaking with a sari-sari store owner who has been running her small shop for more than two decades. Her hands freely handled the packets of biscuits, the coffee, and the cans, but that voice of hers, consistent and earthy, is the thing that I remembered most.
"Alam mo, anak," she declared, standing tall with her gaze locked on mine, "did not complete high school, but I can raise the six offspring of you and pay the debt of our land."
There was no pride in her voice. Only certainty. Only truth.
That experience, like so many I have in the Philippines, reminded me that empowerment is not always a roar. Sometimes, empowerment just appears, every day, without fanfare.
Women like her are quietly keeping things going in every corner of the globe. And in the Philippines, this resilience is interweaved into the fabric of daily life. From the wives of jeepney drivers who manage the purse strings to the youth who organize climate actions, there is a Filipinas' fire that burns consistently, nurtured by needs, belief, and an inherited toughness.
But this isn't just a local story. All over the world, I see it repeated in so many ways.
Achieng wakes up at dawn to fetch water, water the farm, and also manage to tutor village girls to read in Kenya. A single mom opens a small online business in Colombia, battling algorithms and poverty with the same vigor. A CEO in Sweden juggles boardroom meetings and storytelling hour, redefining the face of leadership.
Empowerment comes in many forms. It is a weathered hand, a strong back, a spread-sheet, a protest placard, a lullaby, a loud laugh.
But what hurts me most at times is how much of this power goes unseen. Women continue to be questioned, doubted, asked to “prove” over and over again. Even here, where women are at the centerpiece of family and society, there are inherent fissures of equality. Pay gaps, political underrepresentation, cultural expectations that are felt so strongly.
But the good news is that the tide is turning.
Young Filipino women are making their voices heard. They are occupying places that were long occupied by men not with ferocity, but with resolve. They are founding businesses, writing codes for startups, running for public office, and utilising platforms like social media to speak their truth. They are not merely requesting space.
And across the globe, more women are connecting, supporting, learning from each other. The digital age isn't just a tool, it is a bridge. A village of voices. A worldwide sisterhood.
As I think about all this, I think empowerment isn't something that is “given” to women. It is something that is recognized, cultivated, and believed in. It exists already in the voices of women , in boardrooms and barangays, in villages and cities, in whispers and in music.
Let's stop waiting for louder proof.
Let’s trust women. Let’s follow them. Let’s finally acknowledge: they’ve always been the leaders.
Photo credit: Pixels App