PHILIPPINE LITERARY TEXT:

ESSAY
“The Filipino Woman: Cory and Leonor, Gabriela and
Imelda”
By Carmen Guerrero Nakpil
CARMEN GUERRERO NAKPIL

Writer of the essay, “The Filipino Woman:

Cory and Leonor, Gabriela and Imelda”
Life

Born on July 19, 1922 Journalist, author,

historian and public
servant
Graduated w/a Bachelor of
Arts degree in 1942 at St.
Theresa’s College, Manila
Work

 Staff member, editor or editorial columnist at the Evening News, The Philippines
Herald, the Manila Chronicle, The Manila Times, Asia magazine, and Malaya
 Published ten books: Woman Enough, A Question of Identity, History Today, The
Philippines and the Filipinos, The Rice Conspiracy (a novel), the Centennial Reader
and Whatever; autobiographical trilogy Myself, Elsewhere; Legends & Adventures;
and Exeunt
 Chairman of the Philippine National Historical Commission, the Manila Historical
Commission, & director-general of the Technology Resource Center, also elected to
the Executive Board of the UNESCO, Paris
 Recipient of the S.E.A. Writer Award
 Died in July 30, 2018 (96)
The Filipino Woman: Cory and Leonor, Gabriela and Imelda
Carmen Guerrero Nakpil
LEONOR B. RIVERA-KIPPING
Characteristics

 Wide forehead, large round eyes, & no figure

 Very middle class, extremely feminine, intensely sentimental, typical convent-
schoolgirl, well-instructed in the good manners & right conduct
 Lover & fiancée of Jose Rizal
 Real-life Maria Clara, muse & heroine of the Filipino race
 Compendium of the morals & manners of generation
 Took the safe course & let the glory go
CORAZON C. AQUINO
Characteristics

 Wife of the late President Benigno Aquino

 Patient housewife & bereaved widow
 Presidential candidate & revolutionary president
 Chief executive & commander-in-chief
GABRIELA SILANG
Characteristics

 Good-looking & spirited lass

 Widow of a famous rebel, Diego Silang
 Took up the war against Spain (led an army of 2000 men on horseback)
 Symbol of the activist, patriotic Filipina
IMELDA MARCOS
Characteristics

 Tall, beautiful, & talented

 One of 11 children of a Spanish-speaking lawyer
 Wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos
 Displayed unbridled appetite for vainglory, overachiever, & Marcos’ “secret weapon”
 Politician & patroness of the arts
Highlights

 “Each one of them―Cory, the housewife and revolutionary president, Leonor, who
counted the world lost for love, Gabriela, who commanded an army of men, and
Imelda, politician and patroness of the arts―is a true and compete reflection of the
Filipino woman.”
 “Cory’s strength and Gabriela’s indomitability are merely the reverse of the flexible
Imelda and the submissive Leonor.”
 “Extravagance or abnegation, faith, fortitude, intelligence and ingenuity, the same
character is common to all.”
 “Today, these characteristics are displayed by the women migrant workers whom
President Corazon Aquino has called “the real heroines” of the Filipino nation.”
 “For, not the least of the Filipino woman’s qualities is her unquenchable optimism.”
 Photo Credits:
• https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/31/18
38351/carmen-guerrero-nakpil-essayist-visionary
(Carmen Guerrero Nakpil)
• https://www.geni.com/photo/view/60000000152867
72888?
album_type=photos_of_me&photo_id=600000001563
PREPARED BY: 0719029 (Leonor B. Rivera-Kipping)
• https://anthonygaupo.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/i

Articulo, Jesselle Kayla -had-lived-a-full-life/(Corazon C. Aquino)

(MAELL Student)
http://kalayeditor.wixsite.com/mysite
• https://jaeon009.tumblr.com/post/109016076947/1
242015-gabriela-silang-gotta-show-some-love-to
(Gabriela Silang)
• http://imelda.mybcnet.net/?p=866 (Imelda Marcos)