The three ‘P’s that was Pura Villanueva Kalaw

Just recently, the late suffragist and trailblazing woman, Pura Villanueva Kalaw, was honored with a monument in Iloilo City, with the mayor himself, Jerry Trenas, sharing the good news in his Facebook account, that "we, Ilonggo came together to honor and celebrate the life of an amazing woman, Pura Villanueva Kalaw. We've unveiled a beautiful monument to remember and appreciate her great contributions to our city and country.

Pura Villanueva Kalaw was not just a talented writer and teacher, but also a strong supporter of women's rights and education. She worked tirelessly to make our community better and taught us the importance of being determined and caring.

"This monument will remind us of her values. Let it be a symbol of inspiration for all of us to help and support each other, no matter our differences."

With our recent commemoration of National Heroes' Day, we look back on those whose hearts were deeply anchored on their love for this country and their fellow Filipinos. Doña Pura embodied even then the ideal modern woman who performed her tasks as a homemaker zealously and devotedly while giving as much of her time and talent to the worthy causes of the day, especially the movement for women's suffrage. Interestingly, she succeeded as well as an entrepreneur, engaged in real estate development, proving that a woman could succeed in any endeavor that she chooses to pursue.

I take special interest in this good news, which I am sharing with you because two of Pura Villanueva's great-grandchildren are my friends — Teddy Kalaw IV (who is directly descended from the man in whose honor the TM Kalaw Street in Luneta  was named) and Ramon Rodrigo Kalaw Cuenca, whose late mom, my Tita Chingbee, was the daughter of realtor and sharpshooter Teodoro Kalaw Jr. It is one family of illustrious members from the founding father, Teodoro Sr., all the way to the current generation of achievers.

I am sharing, as follows, Teddy IV's message on behalf of the Kalaw family during the inauguration of his great-grandmother's monument in Molo Plaza.

Pioneer, Provider, Pathfinder — Pura Villanueva Kalaw and Iloilo City

The Hon. Vice-Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon who is representing your Mayor the Hon. Jerry Trenas today, the chair of the Iloilo Cultural Heritage Council, Dr. Christine Trenas, sculptor Mark Gonzales, officials and citizens of the great city of Iloilo, thank you first for your warm welcome for those of us representing the Clan Kalaw today. It is on behalf of our Clan that we are here to convey our most heartfelt gratitude and thanks for your decision to recognize one of your very own this afternoon, in this symbolic homecoming at the very site that has always meant so much to her, to your city, and to our Nation, as I will highlight in my message.

Let me first recognize the other members of my Clan present today. Appropriately as you will find out from my message, most of them are female. The one exception being my eldest first cousin, Mr. Gary Manotoc. With me also this afternoon is the first chairwoman of the Philippine Stock Exchange and my mother, Mrs. Trina Kalaw; my own wife, Atty. Bunny Kalaw; the wife of my first cousin Gary, Mrs. Frannie Manotoc, whose maternal side the Lopezes also hail from Iloilo; Gary and Frannie's daughter, Stevie; and my and Bunny's daughter, Eli.

I would have enjoyed having my own grandmother, former Senator Eva Kalaw, to also be here and complete the full set of Mrs. Teodoro Kalaws present, but for the fact that she has joined Lola Pura — our Inay —- in the heavens above. As I hope you now can surmise from my introductions, the Teodoro Kalaws in our clan are apparently just the trophy husbands, who get to bask in the glory of our respective wives. On that note, let me now go particularly today to Lola Pura's own enduring legacy from three unique perspectives.

First, Pioneer

In this time when we have a pop culture marked by an abundance of beauty contests, Maria Concepcion "Pura" Villanueva Kalaw is probably best known for being the first Filipina beauty queen. There was actually some uncertainty as to what that role meant when she came to accept the title of "Queen of the Orient" for the 1908 Manila Carnival, effectively the first nationwide beauty pageant as officially sanctioned and supported by the then colonial administration of the United States of America led by Governor-General James Francis Smith. Her own fiancé, Teodoro M. Kalaw, to whom she was already engaged, opposed her joining primarily because of such doubts. The initial candidate selected actually opted to travel to Japan instead, rather than waste her time on what many then viewed as unnecessary frivolity. It took some time but when she got around to accepting, my Lola Pura served with conviction, providing what we term today as the "star power" that was instrumental in making that first Manila Carnival a success, and paving the way for further annual versions of this pageant until they changed the title to "Miss Philippines" in 1926.

Undoubtedly, Lola Pura chose to pioneer in the role because she knew the importance of highlighting not just aesthetics, but also the positive aspects of life, as specifically expressed in the collective effort that is the art of pageantry. From that first spark we trace a direct line of tradition to our international beauty queens today. That first spark that Lola Pura lighted is the same spark we see in your great city, whether it be from your efforts to rehabilitate your river as can be witnessed from your esplanade, your preservation of your abundant heritage infrastructure, or simply how walkable your hometown is, as evidenced by this very plaza. These all demonstrate your hometown advantage in leading the way as both a pleasing and positive city.

Second, Provider

Less publicly known was Lola Pura's role as the cornerstone of my immediate clan's economic standing. Not only was she the primary provider for my family in view of her husband's disability and vocation, but her investments particularly in real estate allowed both her husband and all of her four children to develop themselves to their full potential. It is, indeed, fitting that the statue of her that we unveil today is positioned at the very front of the same church where, right before the break of sunrise at five in the morning on the Sixth of May, 1910, Lola Pura and Lolo Doroy sealed their life together by celebrating their marriage. My Clan is, therefore, deeply touched that the plaque highlighting my Lola Pura's role as an exemplary wife and mother will be oriented towards the church that my Lola Pura walked out of to begin her married life with my great grandfather.

Just as fitting, therefore, is the fact that Lola Pura's statue is oriented to symbolically face you, the fellow citizens of her hometown, as gathered in this plaza. Such highlights not just your heritage, but also your promise as the economic center of this region, in providing the innovation and initiative best currently displayed in your own city's thriving economic triangle. During the First World War, my Lola Pura being a writer had to figure out another way to what we today term as "quickly creating content," in order to provide an additional income stream for her family. She settled on the recipes she collected from the fusion of culinary heritages between her and Lolo Doroy's clans. The reality then though was that such were not thought worthy of publication. Simply put, there was then no market for cookbooks so there were no cookbooks. Yet Lola Pura persisted, obtained the support of the Women's Club of Manila, and in 1918 brought forth our country's very first culinary reference, Condimentos Indigenas, which initiated what today is one of the biggest categories in published popular writing. In fact, that feisty Ilongga's book was so successful it was subsequently translated from its original Spanish to all major languages of Tagalog, Bicol, Ilocano, Pampango, Cebuano and Visayan including her native Ilonggo.

As the growth center of Western Visayas, your city has both the power and promise to produce your very own versions of Lola Pura's cookbook initiative. Just as my Lola Pura understood the need for us to create value in our own ways, her monument today is a testament to the reality that value created is best utilized not for one's own ends but for a common good, whether for a family as in Lola Pura's case or your thriving locality as brought by your own city's growing businesses. Like my Lola Pura, your city has always been both progressive in its approach and prosperous in its outlook.

Third, Pathfinder

Of all she sought to build what would become our Nation, Lola Pura's one true calling was her advocacy of the political and property rights of women. She knew the path she wanted to carve would be long, arduous and very often frustrating. Yet she also believed with her fellow suffragettes that, in the course of time with persistence and focus, they would arrive at their destination. It took 30 years. Thirty years from 1907 when Lola Pura personally convinced then Representative Filemon Sotto to file the very first women's suffrage bill in the Philippine Assembly, till the 30th of April 1937, when a national plebiscite granting women the right to vote settled the issue. Within seven decades since 1937, our Nation has already had two female presidents.

I can think of no one place to better honor this legacy than this plaza in front of what is popularly known as our country's "Feminine Church." Just as inside that church are honored no other than 16 female saints, so is it truly fitting that your city memorializes one of its very own in her most significant avenue for citizen leadership. My Lola Pura's statue symbolizes the heritage of passionate persistence our feminist leaders provided in bringing about the gender-conscious society we have today, just as those 16 saints we commemorate in the church behind us are models of genuine piety recognized by the Catholic Church. Plainly no better union of passion and piety.

I leave you now with one of Lola Pura's favorite sayings as collected in her biography, Legacy, authored by her eldest daughter and my Lola Ching, former Senator Maria Kalaw Katigbak. In just three sentences, Lola Pura — our Clan's Inay — in her own words highlights the significance of meritocracy, creating value and striving through life to build one's own path, particularly as expressions of the three traits I just described that we best see in her:

Do not be impressed or awed by the names people carry, or by their showy clothes, or by their big homes and big cars. You are just as good as anyone of them. Be impressed by what they have achieved on their own ability, specially if you cannot do the same thing yourself.

To the citizens of Iloilo City, and again on behalf of my Clan, thank you so very much for memorializing our Lola Pura as we unveil her statue here in Molo Plaza today, especially as she resonates with so much of the very character of this city that always to her was home. For just like you and this great city's citizens, my Lola Pura as a genuine Ilongga was just as much…

​Pioneer…Provider…Pathfinder.