Post Elections
Tesay Glinoga would like to thank all of her supporters for being there for her, for believing in her vision, for standing firm and for backing her up to stand against the political machineries in the Philippines. Tesay Glinoga, you are are a winner to your supporters.
The numbers she got were almost exactly what she expected. The funds she was expecting to help her with the campaign did not materialize. What did she do? She continued with the campaign with zero funds, no machinery. Was she irresponsible? No, she waged an honest campaign and made a political statement.
She is going to write about her experiences and her observations for her two-cents’ worth. The votes she got are a political statement; they are pure. Imagine, a virtual unknown and her supporters trusted her with their votes. She would like to think that they are not wasted.
This is just the beginning for Tesay Glinoga. Now that the elections are over she will make a great impact by exposing what she had observed and experienced before and during the elections by writing in detail—most especially ”the poverty or the pseudo poverty that government, both local and national, have created a monster of and is now almost beyond solution and the rampant vote buying.”
“I am quite happy that I got less than 2,000 votes…..from people who truly believe in me”, Tesay said.
The next chapter of Tesay Glinoga’s campaign will be about this.
read more "Post Elections"
The numbers she got were almost exactly what she expected. The funds she was expecting to help her with the campaign did not materialize. What did she do? She continued with the campaign with zero funds, no machinery. Was she irresponsible? No, she waged an honest campaign and made a political statement.
She is going to write about her experiences and her observations for her two-cents’ worth. The votes she got are a political statement; they are pure. Imagine, a virtual unknown and her supporters trusted her with their votes. She would like to think that they are not wasted.
This is just the beginning for Tesay Glinoga. Now that the elections are over she will make a great impact by exposing what she had observed and experienced before and during the elections by writing in detail—most especially ”the poverty or the pseudo poverty that government, both local and national, have created a monster of and is now almost beyond solution and the rampant vote buying.”
“I am quite happy that I got less than 2,000 votes…..from people who truly believe in me”, Tesay said.
The next chapter of Tesay Glinoga’s campaign will be about this.
An Interview With Manila Times
Her aching soul dictates that she took her fight to a higher level against the ills of the city. Maria Teresita “Tesay” Glinoga-Hizon, by a twist of fate, might suddenly find herself on center stage if and when she becomes the first woman Mayor of the City of Manila.
Tesay Glinoga sat quietly and very unassumingly for the interview with Manila Times. It was not until she started discussing her passion through advocacies centered around street children to drug users; from women’s rights to youth empowerment; from her projects “March Na! An Ode to Women” to “Men for Women Movement;” from “Kulay Malaya” to “Lambong” that Tesay proved that she is not only tough, but she has compassion for the poor and the abused.
She is a combination of a spritely spirit and a heart of steel. Most people would not expect that she is definitely made of tougher stuff than most that have gone through similar experience she had underneath her quiet and simple façade. The dark nights of her soul catapulted her spirit to the service of God through her advocacies for the rights of women and children, the poor and the oppressed.
Mission-Vision
Thus, she summarizes her Mission-Vision in a poem she wrote:
I called;
No one answered.
I spoke;
No one believed my words.
I cried;
I cried alone.
I picked up my pieces
And answered my mission
To respond
When you call,
To believe
Every word you say, to sit beside you
And offer my shoulders
When you cry.
Let me hold your hand
And lead you
To where I am NOW
And beyond…
What the Left Hand does, the Right Must Not Know
Tesay, after a long process of discernment, decided to step up to the challenge of undoing at least 25 years of neglect of the city that rendered its progress paralyzed. Easily and expectedly, Manila has been overtaken by its more progressive and competitive neighboring cities in Manila and its counterpart in Asia.
“Neither do I have the delusion nor illusion that the task can be done overnight. The least I can promise is I will not dip my fingers in any money that is not mine; and I shall do the spadework for others to follow,” Tesay says with conviction..
A Battle Between Good and Evil
Tesay had literally shielded women with her own body to protect them from their tormentors: their pimps, lovers, husbands, boyfriends regardless of the place and hour of day or night. It is almost instinctive; she would not think twice to rescue them unmindful of her own safety. In her small businesses, Tesay would hire out of school youth with past criminal activities while others would avoid them like plague; and she would offer them another chance to reform themselves.
“Jesus left ninety nine of His flock to look for just one lost sheep. We cannot turn away those we perceive as sinful or immoral. We cannot alienate them and discriminate against them. Society must be kinder. We cannot cast judgment on others.”
Tesay’s deep compassion is not without its stories from her early awareness of inequality and injustice in her midst as a young girl. Those experiences developed her keen sense of justice in treating children, women, the poor, the oppressed, OFWs, the disabled, the sick, the dying, and the old.
Jack-of-all-Trades
A Jack-of-all trades; Tesay acknowledges that, “God has been so kind to bless me with so many talents that have in fact been subject of envy by some. He had given me so many dark nights; and He has opened my eyes to see injustice where others cannot; and feel true compassion while others have become apathetic. I have shortchanged God by not maximizing the use of my talents. Now is the time to use and share my gifts to the optimum.”
Value of Industry
Tesay was five years old when her father suffered a serious stroke. It used to be that the family lived a life of comfort; and how she dreaded those American shoes her father brought her from his travels abroad. But when he was out of job for a long time, she experienced extreme poverty. She would go to school in worn-out pair of shoes; her big toe protruded through a big hole. Tesay learned her lesson the hard way to value everything that is achieved from hard work. But she also observed that the change in status was never an issue in the family. Her mother used her talents and skills in arts and crafts to earn for the family while her father was sick and out of job. She got employed and was still able to do her charity work. So Tesay learned to value industry; and that there should always be dignity despite one’s status in life.
Love and Care for the Elders
Her grandmother, Rita, was very loving to her. She forbade any one to scold Tesay when she was naughty or when she made a mistake. In her sickbed, she would call Tesay to her side twice a day, summoned all the cousins to be the captive audience, and prodded Tesay to dance, sing, recite a poem and sing for her. Tesay lives with the memory that she had made her grandmother happy in her final days; and that it is important how we should be kind, respectful, and loving to the elders.
Disparity Between the Rich and the Poor
When she was eight years old, Tesay recalls her first initiation to the reality of the disparity between the rich and the poor.
There was an incident in their home province in Lucena, Quezon. Their ancestral house was situated on a sprawling compound. Just across is the hospital of the sister of her grandmother, Dr. Milagros Correa, the first woman who topped the Medical Board Exam. Children in the neighborhood were not allowed to play in the hospital zone. One morning, Tesay and her best cousin, Pilar, were sent on an errand to town. They were met by a dozen boys aged between seven and twelve at the boundary of their private road and the public road. They all carried rocks the size of a child’s fist. Sensing danger, Tesay felt it was her duty to protect Pilar since she was two years older than she. The boys started throwing stones at them. The boys were actually preventing them from crossing the boundary. So, it was a matter of survival to cross the threshold as fast as they could.
Tesay asked her cousin if she knew the boys. Pilar said it was her first encounter with them. So, who are those boys and why are they stoning us with so much anger?
Does not Buckle in War
But the more difficult task was to come back home. Tesay ordered Pilar to pick up as many stones as she could; and prepare for the fight ahead. True enough, the boys were waiting for them at the boundary. As the boys started to throw stones at them, Tesay counter attacked. Tesay seldom missed her mark. As soon as they passed the boundary, the boys stopped their attacks. Pilar asked if they should tell the elders about the incident. Tesay said no, there was no need; they were safe home.
That was and is Tesay. She never buckles from any battle in life. She does not even have to ask her parents for help to fight for her own war.
The following morning, they were again sent on an errand. This time, Tesay was prepared with more stones and more courage to take the war. She walked right in the middle of the street and waited for the first volley. She could see the volleys of the stones and she ducked at the right moment to avoid being hit; but she had more agility and precision to hit her mark. Deep inside, she cringed every time she hit her target; but she had to face the battle and win, otherwise, they would be bullied. When they came home from the errand, nobody was waiting by the boundary; the street was empty.
Rooftop-her Recluse; Other’s Misery
Tesay remembers that every afternoon she would climb an Iba tree which she discovered led to the rooftop of the house. She then made the rooftop her playground her secret recluse. It was the highest point she could reach the skies and search for God and Angels among the clouds; and she would perform for them in case they watched. She would shout at the top of her voice reciting poems or dance ballet; or sing songs from the “Sound of Music.” She remembers the eyes of children from the ground below; she performed for them as well as they listened and watched her mini one-girl-concert. Could they be the same boys who hurled stones at her and envied her position of privilege to be allowed to make so much noise in a hospital zone; while they were driven away by the security guard for just making the sound of shrill fun laughter?
Tesay could only make certain deductions from what had transpired in those fateful mornings. The scene was like it was lifted from the movie: Sa’yo ang Cavite, Sa Akin ang Tundo. The children were protecting their turf as they must have interpreted the situation as inequality between the rich and poor.
Several years later in one summer vacation in Lucena in the 70’s, Tesay would be serenaded at least once a night by teenagers she didn’t know. Could they be the same boys at the boundary hurling stones at her, now serenading her to apologize, ‘We’re sorry?’
Seeing the Children through the Eyes of God
Every summer in the mornings, Tesay spent time in the Nursery of the hospital to take care of the abandoned children. But she also witnessed how the children when they grew a little older were abused and maltreated by their adoptive families. Her heart ached for the injustice done on the children. They were her joys and it gladdened her heart every time she came to the nursery to play with them. Their laughter had been replaced by cries every time they received beatings for petty mistakes. There were no more smiles on their faces but deep traces of anguish.
In Manila, almost every weekend, she would sleep at an orphanage with her nurse-aunt. Every mealtime, Tesay noticed she had special food different from the rest of the orphans. Before going to bed, Tesay would be treated to soft boiled egg and a glass of warm milk. She virtually forced herself to eat. For how could she swallow the food when the children she had been playing with all day were peeking through the door, watching in self pity?
Tesay would take her afternoon nap after class, and then taught catechism to their neighborhood kids in Tondo. Her mother would prepare snacks to attract attendance.
Inequality in Sexes
At the time, Tesay’s world was genderless: What the boys could do, she could do better. Everyone was equal. But her perspective changed when she was in Grade 4.
There were a couple of boys in class who were teasing her during class hours because one of the boys had a crush on her. During recess, the boys were still having fun at her expense. She was determined to make the teasing stop. She accosted the group and asked them to stop teasing her; but they just laughed. A squabble ensued because the boys would not apologize. The nun was called and reprimanded them. Tesay recalls in hindsight that she was rather aggressive to engage in a fistfight; “But that showed I have always been fearless. I fight for my rights. Although I faced the consequence of my actions— I was disallowed to be a member of the Eucharistic Crusade for conduct unbecoming of a girl. “Girls should not fight with the boys,” the nun said. But the boys were never punished for the unkindly teasing and were even allowed to become members of the Knights of the Altar.”
This opened Tesay’s consciousness on the disparity in treatment between boys and girls. Boys are allowed to behave in certain manners even if girls are aggrieved in the process. As the boys grew to become men, this manner of behavior has been tolerated by family and society and in fact been accepted as part of their masculine traits to exhibit burly behavior. Thus, this culture has become deeply ingrained in the psyche of people making life lopsided in favor of men in many aspects of society.
They are tolerated to whistle and study the contours of the physical anatomy of women’s body as they salivate in lust as women walk by; while women have been indoctrinated to passively accept that behavior as part of the growing culture of machismo: Just ignore them; the girls were told. Women were taught early on how to suffer in silence. Women’s freedom to express their feminine nature had been stifled or they run the risk of being preyed upon by men. “That is inequality in sexes. That is injustice.”
Value of Honesty
After a long period of time without a job due to his stroke, her father soon found a job as Administration Manager of one company in Saigon, Vietnam at the height of war. One day, Tesay heard her father telling a few relatives that he would ride in a helicopter to deliver millions of dollars in salaries for the staff to far flung areas in Vietnam. He would be geared in a parachute, and would be ready to jump any time in case the helicopter was shot at.
The danger her father faced was just too much to bear; Tesay decided to talk to her father and pleaded him “to tell his boss that he dropped the millions of dollars from the helicopter, take the money home, and come back home.” Her father nipped the bud at a crucial time to drive home the importance of values. In a language that a child would understand, her father looked her in the eyes and patiently and firmly processed her thoughts, “Those men are fathers too, like me. They have children like you. If I take the money, they will not be able to send their children to school. They will have no food to eat and they will grow hungry and get sick.”
Because Tesay understood sickness; she understood how to go hungry; she understood poverty; what her father said left an imprint in her heart and mind the value of hard work and integrity. Poverty can never be an excuse to steal. But Tesay also understood how to live a life of comfort and one cannot use money to oppress other people.
We cannot be Our Own Slaves
Her father found a job as Consultant in Lagos, Nigeria; and he would later build his own manufacturing company of sewing machines and other appliance. Tesay as a teenager saw the great injustice done to the African slaves.
One morning, in their kitchen, the steward dropped a Pyrex dish of newly baked custard pie. The steward was so afraid; he fell to his knees before Tesay and started kissing her feet begging for forgiveness, at the same time preparing his body to receive beatings yet pleading to be spared of punishment. Tesay screamed in disbelief and horror. Her mother came in the kitchen and instantly ordered the steward to stand up from the floor. The steward, a muscled tall man, was reduced to tears until her mother assured him that there would be no beatings. “How can they be subjected to such debasement? It’s inhuman. We can only be slaves if we allow it. They can control our bodies but not our spirits.”
Vocation for Religious Life
It helped in the spiritual formation of Tesay to have nuns and priests in her family. The hospital had a chapel; and a chaplain, Fr. Obsulio, was assigned. Tesay thought as a child that they had a private chapel and a priest under her grandmother’s payroll. Fr. Obsulio would always be available for her and Pilar for confessions, even if he knew that sometimes it was all part of their routine children’s play; but he ministered to them dutifully. Unknowingly, Tesay has slowly developed the habits of weekly Confessions, everyday Eucharist, everyday mass, three mysteries of the rosary each day, Angelus, and novenas. This led to her serious desire to enter the convent when she was in high school.
But the nun advised her that she was too young to decide and she must learn the ways of the world and perhaps have a boyfriend. But her heart was really for the religious vocation. However, this dream of becoming a nun was shelved when her father suffered six strokes in a year that rendered his left side of the body paralyzed. Tesay had to work odd jobs from being an account executive, to sales clerk, to appearing on television and selling encyclopedia, while pursuing her pre-med course in Psychology. She scrimped on buying books to save money; and buried herself in the library to research. She was consistently in the Dean’s list.
Drug Rehabilitation
On top of these, during martial rule, while most of the teenagers took advantage of the curfew to hold their pot sessions in stay-in parties, Tesay co-founded a theater group comprising drug users, out-of-school youth, and juvenile delinquents who had committed various crimes from petty theft to murder. The foundation helped the youth to stay out of drugs and trouble; and offered them better things to do and focus on something more productive. Her mother was worried for her safety, but her father was supportive, “Let her learn.”
Tesay would later undergo a drug rehabilitation program that can be applied to any form of addiction like smoking, shopping, gambling, sex, etc. It is an attitudinal training designed for self-discipleship.
Naturally a curious mind, Tesay’s world has been colorful and happy. Tesay thought she already knew about life—that man is intrinsically good because no harm came her way. She would realize much later that life would offer more lessons to learn the hard way.
Dark Night of the Soul
In 1997, the end of the 15 years of marriage was forthcoming. Tesay believed that the marriage was long over when her husband remained uncommunicative, “How can there be marriage when there is no any form of communication?” But Tesay did not expect that she would be deprived of her children who are much part of the reason for her living. It’s been over 12 years now that Tesay have not been with her three sons, “I tried hard, according to our mission as parents, to raise them properly with all the love we can offer. I have to let go and I have surrendered them completely into God’s loving Hands. They have to take the journey where God leads them. The time will come when we will all be united.”
“My separation from my children is the darkest of all dark nights of my soul. I never questioned God. I asked Him what I should do with all the experience He allowed to happen in my life”
Dark night is when you face situations one perceives as having no solution. One can go through state of depression or even suicide. God allows this for man’s purification. It is a gift to suffer with Christ in His Passion and to be humble before Him. It is a Dark Night when one is able to rise from his situation and has developed an intimate relationship with God in the process. It is a Dark Night when one is able to use one’s “woundedness” to heal others in theirs.
The Decision to Run for Mayor of Manila
High school was the best time for us. That was then. This is now. Tess is Tesay and is running for Mayor of the one of the largest cities of the Philippines. Through emails, Tesay shared the new Tess. She is running as an Independent and is campaigning on her own. Here I am, from the other end of the world, sharing to you, people of Manila, who Tesay Glinoga is.
Kilalanin po ninyo si Tesay Glinoga Hizon….
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
I love my name, Tess. There is a certain mystery in it— in the person who owns it. However, not in this part of the world, it isn’t! Nakakasira ng araw, no matter how Juliet rhetorically asks: What’s in a name? A rose is a rose and will smell as sweet. Dito kahit sa mall, sa kalye, sa palengke, if someone calls, “Tess,” sampu kaming lilingon. Sayang ang energy na lilingon ako’t sasagot tapos hindi pala ako. Nawawala ang uniqueness…and identity! I was in Australia n 1998. A group of excited children were running towards me and calling out, “Tess.” I thought: Aba, bakit ako kilala? Then I was taken aback when I realized they were running after their pet rabbit! Hanggang Australia ba naman?
Of course, we mean different to different people. So no matter how you call me, Tess or nog-nog or knogs, or nogs, or Teresa, Theresa, terry, or tesay would not matter nor change how you feel about me. I am so happy, thrilled, in fact, that you remember me.
TYPHOON ONDOY, THE TIPPING POINT TO RUN FOR MAYOR
That Saturday during the onslaught of the typhoon, I was trapped in San Carlos Seminary from morning till afternoon. The rains were strong and the traffic was not moving anymore. A neighbor called me up to inform me that floodwater was rising to knee-deep. I was not really worried kasi mataas ang lugar ng office. When there were floods in the past, people took shelter in my office. Nagpapainom pa nga ako ng kape pag minsang merong stranded sa harap ng office. But not this time; my office was not spared. Anyway, I could not return to check my office; everywhere was flooded. I went home to my condo unit here in Legazpi Village. I was able to check on the office on Monday afternoon yet.
I saw everyone was cleaning in the streets, nagbibilad ng mga gamit. When I opened the door of my office, it was like a tornado hit the place. The smell was like estero already. Black, everything was black from mud na madumi. Everything was damaged.
It so happened, that another condo unit in Quezon City, where I kept my belongings, was sold already. I had to move all my stuff from that condo to my office. So kung kelan ko pa nilipat mga gamit, dun pa nabaha. There was no memory of everything I worked so hard on—my personal effects, writings, everything. I just scoured through the ravage for my children’s photos and dried them.
That was the tipping point of my decision to file my candidacy for mayor.
I took it as cleansing of the past and starting with a new life. We all have to let go. I felt light actually. We have a strong tendency to be so attached to the past: Past glories, memories etc, for posterity. But posterity for what? I had a truckload of garbage I had to dispose.
SEMI-RETIREMENT IN QUEZON
Even before that, sumisiksik sa isip ko mag-mayor. It was not in Manila, though. I was about to buy an ancestral lot in Quezon. It is at the foot of the mountain, overlooking the Pacific. I planned on building a modest nipa hut with a roof deck for my meditations and a clean toilet. My uncle and other relatives used to be mayor there. Para kaming dynasty doon. Haha. Pero good kami ha. Walang nagpayaman. Yung mga associates ng uncle ko, pinipilit akong mag-mayor dun; they will support me. Ako naman, umandar na naman ang utak. You see, people there are starving. You know— the big farm owners, (isa kami dun;) and the kasama, the farmhands. I envisioned the things I’d do to make the place a big tourist attraction. Sayang ang tubig-dagat at mga isla na idle lang dun. I thought of national and international regattas, waterfun, etc. Ang laki ng potential. It’s mainly fishing industry there na hindi naman naalagaan ang dagat at isda. So I will come up with a scheme na maalagaan ito, at idevelop pa.
NO CREATIVE SOLUTIONS
Walang ganung programa ang Quezon, o ang ibang probinsya, o ang Maynila, kahit ang bansa. We’re stuck as a people, I see that clearly. Walang creative process na nangyayari kaya tayo mahirap. It is the perennial inferiority complex as a people that we accepted it as a fact that we are perennial victims of the West. Hindi tayo aware doon; but it is in our psyche.
If we assess our past actions and directions as a country, we are wasting our gifts as a people, as individual persons, as a country.
NO TELEVISION
So, going back to earth… I’ve not had television for the past 5 years or so; a personal choice. It’s trash. I just have a regular solicitation of Inquirer and Newsweek and other stuff. I have a decent library na nadurog sa baha. Nakakaiyak kasi I packed some books to donate them. Well…
GANG WAR
One day, I was reading the newspaper and I saw a seven-year old boy armed with rusty icepick on one hand; and a broken beer bottle on the other; geared for war. Gang wars, fraternity wars happen every night in places like Baseco, Parola, Sta Ana, San Andres, Moriones. Hindi na mapasok ng pulis yan. All police and the local government can do is impose curfew. By now, as we know from martial rule, curfews can only ba effective to a certain point. It’s band-aid solution, that’s all. Buti pa ang Newark, it is virtually a ghost town at 5pm. I’ve been there; I’ve seen it. Only the warring factions are seen in the streets at night. But here, it’s alive every night. People co-exist and they have accepted the situation as part of their life.
ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN
When I see street children, I cry a lot; and I really do not have an idea where all those tears are coming from. I have so much pity for them. If they are given opportunities, who would want to scavenge through the garbage?
I trained as Casa Gal or Court Ad Litem, where we are the voice of children in court. The training was undertaken by no less than the Supreme Court, Ateneo Law School, and the Unicef. But I was never called to duty. I don’t even know now if it was ever implemented in juvenile courts.
I was deeply involved in the Consortium of Metro Manila NGOs for children. But I was disappointed how the officers of the various NGOs used the money to suit their personal needs when I was sincere in giving my services for free to help them. Corrupted na rin. Actually there are many fly-by-night NGOs; however, even legitimate NGOs use the funds for their personal end. The NGOs would just report anything to justify their programs to their foreign donors who are most of the time clueless and approve their expenses which run to millions.
The system hurts me. Any system that is tainted with corruption hurts me. I decided to go solo.
One day I had a wishful thought: If only I could be a little like Mother Teresa who embraced smelly dirty children and touched and cared for the sick, then my advocacy would be complete. The rest of the story—I hope to tell you later, in person. Again, it was a mystical experience.
The advocacy for children, I called it Kulay Malaya. I expanded it to those “Mangangalakal” or those scavengers; and those who live in “kariton.” I called the project “Lambong,” or Mantle. I did my own research on them. Interviewed them one by one and each has his own problem.
So I concluded that the solution to poverty cannot be just linear. The solution should use social engineering to identify the problems; and address them accordingly. Hindi pwedeng housing lang; or feeding; or giving land titles. Those are band-aid solutions.
BILANCIA
That’s when I decided to put up Bilancia, Italian word for balance, our zodiac Libra, balance as in dance, or balance in music as in a symphony, balance of the mind-body-spirit. I set up Bilancia to house everything I do from arts and crafts, fashion design, to psycho-spiritual counseling that I designed myself , my advocacies for street children, abused women, abusive men, and any Juan and Juana who need to talk, healing, house visits for the sick, praying for the sick and the dead, and those who have various wishes.
Tesay Glinoga
Bilancia
Tesay has gone through many dark nights and she has used her “woundedness” to heal others. She has opened her center, Bilancia, to give services for women and children, and anyone who needs solace, or just wants to talk about his concerns. Tesay has designed her own psycho-spiritual counseling/healing based on her trainings in Psychological counseling, drug rehabilitation, meditations and her own experience how she was able to heal her wounds.
Bilancia is an Italian word for balance, or equilibrium. It also means dance; dance is a form of balance. Tesay conducts healing dance. Tesay adds her personal definition to Bilancia as balance of the Mind-Body-Spirit to be able to function well.
read more "Bilancia"
Bilancia is an Italian word for balance, or equilibrium. It also means dance; dance is a form of balance. Tesay conducts healing dance. Tesay adds her personal definition to Bilancia as balance of the Mind-Body-Spirit to be able to function well.
“We need to empower women, not to use it against men, but to use it for our own well-being. Our Source of power is the Holy Spirit. No matter what devastation we encounter in life, including Ondoy or Haiti’s earthquake, we have the power to process that in our minds. Our emotions and feelings, our ideas, even faith starts from the mind. So I espouse Viktor Frankl’s ‘Will to will’ to salvage ourselves from devastation. In the end, only we can save ourselves; and so, we are our own disciples and healers.”
Advocacies
Tesay Glinoga’s Advocacies and Projects
- Project “Kulay Malaya” for street children
- Project “Lambong” for street families
- Devotion to the Virgin of the Poor, organized processions and vigils for the consecration of the country
- March Na! An Ode to Women, 2007 Women’s Month, organized breakfast forum and all-men Fun Run
- Men for Women Movement, 2008 Women’s Month, organized Race Walk, Signature Campaign among men to support “Say No to Violence Against Women.” Designed and conducted Psycho-Spritual Counseling and Healing Catholic Meditation, (Carmelite) Volunteer Teacher for the Secondary Night School, St. Scholastica’s College
Kulay Malaya
Every time Tesay sees street children or scavengers, she cries, “My soul churns. How can we let our children suffer? I don’t know where my tears are coming from; I just believe that God has allowed me to see them through His eyes.”
This started Tesay’s project “Kulay Malaya.” Tesay warms up with a smile, “Imagine the color of freedom. Imagine the beautiful colors that will replace the darkness of their lives when children are set free to run the expanse of green fields, or climb trees, or swim in the middle of the ocean, or let them fly in the sky. We have to bring that color back to their life, at least in their imagination when they see a glimmer of hope in their future. We stole their lives; therefore, it is our duty to let them reclaim their childhood.”
Tesay used to roll out her mats on any space, by the roads, creeks, cemeteries; read to children and allowed them to hold books, etc. But this, she thought was so temporary. So she had her office fenced and she adapted small communities. Every Saturday she accepts children to her office. She bathes them personally, feeds them, teaches them arts and reading; and in the afternoon, they all attend the mass together. Tesay asks for donations of goods, not money, from the neighbors. She would wait for the closing of store hours and beg from restaurants for their leftover breads. “I don’t want to give them the opportunity to doubt that I am using the money for other purposes; so I explicitly say in my flyers that we don’t accept money for donations.”
The long range goal of “Kulay Malaya” is to debrief the children from any form of abuse they have experienced in life. So, “Kulay Malaya” is a link between uprooting the children from their ugly experiences and planting them into mainstream society. Children are resilient. I have actually seen the positive changes after just a couple of weeks. But the Program will take at least one year to see a more lasting character formation on the children.
Tesay says, “The trouble is government tries to force feed children with schooling in the guise of education. Even adults cannot function when they are bombarded with problems. So why and how could we expect children to function effectively when they are still hurting? How can they carry the heavy burden on their tiny shoulders that is too much even for adults to carry? Some of them might be permanently broken. Just because government gives them free education, free textbooks or uniforms that we can already expect them to heal and live a normal life.”
Tesay admonishes the government to use social engineering to address the problems of society and stop using band-aid solutions.
“Kulay Malaya” should be a concerted effort of society. It has parallel efforts to reform the family that the children will go home to after they have undergone the program. If they go back to the same dysfunctional family, the children will slide back to their old self, and the program will all be an effort in futility. The concept is to have a functioning society. To achieve that, everybody should be able to become functional.
The same principles hold true for drug users and other addictions. Six months is not enough for rehabilitation. The programs can eat up a lot of budget, but Tesay believes that we have to start somewhere. Otherwise, the situation may become unmanageable; and we, as a society, will have to suffer the burden of guilt for not doing promptly what we should have done at least thirty years ago. Finger pointing consumes our energy. We are faced with the NOW. So our concerted efforts as a people should be funneled in the now; and the task should start now.
March Na! Ode to Women
Every Women’s Month, Tesay organizes activities specifically for men. “If men are the cause of women’s miseries; they should be part of the solution. We encourage men to participate in the process of dissecting the anatomy of abuse against women.”
Tesay has initiated the project, “March Na! An Ode to Women.” for Women’s Month. She organizes gender sensitivity seminars to men to raise their awareness on the plight of women. She also organized “Men for Women Movement that jumpstarted a 10K and 20K Race Walk among men which she envisions to become an international race in the future. She organized brisk walking trainings in Metro Manila and promoted it as a better exercise than jogging. Tesay was a long distance runner so she knows what she is talking about, “I promote brisk walking as part of healthy living. When people, specifically for this purpose, men, are engaged in healthy lifestyle, they veer away from vices such as smoking, drug use, or alcohol that blur one’s reason. The result is usually violence against the eventual victims: Women and children.
At the end of the race, men were asked to recite the “Ode to Women” and change from their jerseys to their “graduation T-shirts” with the printed logo “Certified Feminist.” The men were encouraged to commit to the advocacy through a campaign signature: No to Violence Against Women. Tesay has adapted her logo in violet color, the combination for the symbols for male and female, that symbolizes gender equality. “At the end of the day, we hope to achieve the harmony between men and women and among us,” Tesay concludes.
Education
EDUCATION
- Immaculate Conception Academy of Manila - Elementary and high school
- St. Paul College of Manila - Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Major in Clinical Psychology (Pre-med), Dean’s List
- Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, USA - AB Fashion Design, 1985,Top 5 of the class. Returned to the Philippines for the EDSA Revolution.
- St. Scholastica’s College, Manila - MA in Humanities, Major in Women’s Studies, earned Units
TRAININGS
- Market Research
- Personnel Administration
- Human Resource Management
- Records Management
- United Management System (MBA for United Laboratoties, Inc.)
- Assessment Center (Recruitment and Promotions Systems; Targeted Interview, In-Basket Case, etc.)
- CASA GAL /COURT AD LITEM-Ateneo Law School and the Supreme Court
- Upward Bound-Dr. Lourdes Vega (Formerly with DARE), Drug Rehabilitation and Attitudinal Training
- Poetry Writing - Ateneo University
- Scriptwriting-Star Cinema, Ken Rotcop, Nestor U. Torre, Film Academy of the Philippines
Family
FAMILY BACKGROUND
PARENTS AND SIBLINGS
JOSE C. GLINOGA, Teresita’s father, originated from Pitog, Quezon. He had degrees in Geodetic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering major in Designs at Feati University. He became an expert in the field of Industrial Engineering. He was a businessman in Lago, Nigeria where he built machines, among them sewing machines. During his retirement in the Philippines, Mr. Glinoga had built himself a motorboat for fishing. He was not only prayerful and religious, but spiritual, as well.
FELINA F. BAUTISTA, Teresita’s mother, studied BS Pharmacy. Her dedication and diligence in fulfilling her duties as a wife, a mother and a business woman can never be measured.
TERESITA GLINOGA-HIZON is the third of five siblings of women. The eldest, NERISSA G. ROBERTO, completed MS Economics at St. Theresa’s College. The second is GERTRUDES G. TAN, finished her BS Math at Maryknoll College (now Miriam College). The fourth is ANNA MARIA G. UDARBE, who completed BS Nutrition at the College of the Holy Spirit and who is now living in Melbourne, Australia. The youngest is MARIA REGINA G. ALCABAZA, who took up BS Fine Arts at the College of the Holy Spirit.
MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS
AGRIPINO D. BAUTISTA served as the first Interim Governor of Bataan. He was one of those who passed the Constitution of the Democratic National Party which is now the Liberal Party. He was councilor of Manila. He was a labor leader who served honestly to the poor, to the nation and to the Church. He founded the Knights of Columbus in a few cities in the Philippines.
GERTRUDES FRANCISCO was a philanthropist, who helped many finish their education. Through her, Teresita learned the lesson on charity which was passed on to her by her mother: “Charity is when your pocket hurts”.
PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS
JOSE E. GLINOGA finished a law degree at Ateneo de Manila and served as the first judge in Quezon.
RITA M. CORREA was a housewife. Her mother was esteemed as “Golden Mother” because she raised 11 children who all graduated from college due to her hard work, patience and perseverance through looming of fish nets. One of her children is Dr. Milagros M. Correa, the first woman who passed and placed first at the Medical Board exam. Later, she founded and built a hospital in Lucena, Quezon that is now known as Mt. Carmel General Hospital, which she dedicated and donated to the Church when she entered as a nun for the Carmelite Order. She chose to give up worldly pleasures and fame in favor of living a life as a sister for the order. She is now Mother Catherine, the Prioress of Carmel of Our Lady in Gumaca, Quezon. She is known as the matriarch of the clan. She had enormous contributions as far as an influence in their faith. Men in Teresita’s family entered the seminaries and the women attended schools at different exclusive Catholic private schools for girls. In her clan, there are four nuns, three priests, one Brother. They have 25 medical doctors, lawyers and politicians in Quezon; some relatives are teachers and some are from other professions.
Awards
AWARDS
First Place Elocution Contest; wrote her own piece “Tao, Gumising Ka”
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, Short Story for Children, Second Place, 1996, “May Lugar ba sa Langit and Asong Batik-batik?” (Currently in the process of pre- publication as Children’s book series on values for age level 12 years old and above)
Ka Amado Poetry Contest, Second Place, 1997
Pitchmart Scriptwriting Contest, Finalist, 1997
Catholic Mass Media Awards for Best Feature Story, Finalist, 2000
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Invited Speaker in various forums and conducted recollections: St. Scholastica’s College, Sacred Heart College, Miriam College, University of the Philippines, Unicef, NCRFW, Gabriela, etc.; before the Congresswomen for the passage of the Anti-VAWC; in the joint workshop/seminar for the department heads of government agencies by the NCRFW and Unicef to improve the system and service in women’s intervention in women’s desks.
Topics: Anatomy of Abuse; Law on Marital Rape; Sexual Harassment; Psycho-Spiritual Conversion (capital sins, gifts of the Spirit, Forms of Prayer, Catholic Meditation); Marian Dogma; Mother Mary’s Relevance Today; Discernment of good versus evil; The Will to Will; Dark Night of the Soul; Upward Bound
PERSONAL ADVOCACIES
- Project “Kulay Malaya” for street children
- Project “Lambong” for street families
- Devotion to the Virgin of the Poor, organized processions and vigils for the consecration of the country
- March Na! An Ode to Women, 2007 Women’s Month, organized breakfast forum and all-men Fun Run
- Men for Women Movement, 2008 Women’s Month, organized Race Walk, Signature Campaign among men to support “Say No to Violence Against Women.”
- Designed and conducted Psycho-Spritual Counseling and Healing Catholic Meditation, (Carmelite)
- Volunteer Teacher for the Secondary Night School, St. Scholastica’s College
IN COLLEGE
- Organized a theater group with friends “Dilat Na Bulag” Foundation comprising the Out-of-school youth, juvenile delinquents, Drug Users
- Produced and directed Stage Plays; used theater to raise social awareness against martial rule
- Conducted theater workshops in depressed areas in Manila
TRAVELS
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, USA.
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