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Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Editorial: Careful, careful
*There are some aspects of the Aquino-Marquez affair that can be used by
concerned groups to educate the public about women’s rights. What they should just ensure is that they won’t go overboard
It is good that some women’s groups have started calling on their comrades to go easy on their effort to make TV host Kris Aquino a heroine of the feminist struggle.
Going easy is surely the most levelheaded thing to do given the complicated setup that brought about the breakup of Aquino with her lover, comedian and Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez.
Actually, many people agree that Aquino coming out on nationwide television to “tell the truth” about the breakup and other aspects of her relationship with Marquez was a courageous act.
However, the act should be separated from the person, which is what is making Aquino a heroine of women’s struggle means. This is because it would prod people to place the TV host’s person to deeper scrutiny—and that would be bloody.
Even now, there are already some sectors that are raking up some of the muck in Aquino’s person, which in the end is unfair for the woman.
Besides, the incident with Aquino and Marquez as protagonists cannot be reduced into simple black and white, or good vs. evil, with the woman as the pure and good and the man as the black and evil.
Even in fiction, writers always consider the grays or the in-betweens.
Consider the situation: Ms. Aquino is partnering with Marquez, a man who is married to actress Alma Moreno. When Aquino entered the picture, whether it was before or after Marquez and Moreno’s marriage soured is still being debated on.
In this scenario, the gray or the in-between in the breakup surfaces.
Thus, it would be well for feminist groups to be careful, as immediately jumping into the bandwagon may in the end be bad for the women’s struggle.
Making Aquino a heroine could create misimpressions about feminism.
Indeed, there are some aspects of the Aquino-Marquez affair that can be used by concerned groups to educate the public about women’s rights. What they should just ensure is that they won’t go overboard.
Prepaid cards for water
The scheme—consumers using prepaid cards, called AquaCard, to get their water supply—is being touted as the first of its kind worldwide.
But the more interesting point in the water project initiated by the Municipal Government of Ronda, Cebu and a firm called WorldWater (Philippines) Inc. is not its payment scheme.
It is not even in the price of the water, which at 15 centavos per liter is not cheap, considering that the project is for rural folk living in a barangay seven kilometers up the mountains of one of Cebu’s southern towns.
Or whether the Municipal Government can repay the P9 million it borrowed from the Philippine National Bank (a water cooperative, also in Ronda, believes it cannot, “considering the size and economy of the town”).
What is interesting is the use of solar power to run a water system. Meaning, that is a creative way of attending to one of the basic needs in the rural areas.
(September 30, 2003 issue)
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