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January 31, 2009
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Newsroom: Vol. IX No. 2 March - June 2009

L-R seated: Letty O.Elegado, WOMFI treasurer, Mercia C.Aquino, Brenda R. Cancio, Seny R. Reyes, past prexy, Elen Quintana and Pita Tibajia. Standing L-R: Meya Aquino, Adolfo Reyes of the Mama Sita clan and new Trustee, Joseny Guevarra, President Bong Enriquez, Daniel Tantoco, Cindy Genato, Cora Villano, new tandem Trustee sisters Myra Lapid and Sarita Zafra. Board member Jackie Aquino was present but had to leave after adjournment for another meeting.
Annual Assembly 2009
The Annual General Meeting of the Women of Malolos Foundation was held last Saturday, June 6,2009 at the new office in Legaspi Village, Makati. A very good attendance (near 100%) of the current trustees, including the welcome presence of retired and past board members, inspite of the heavy rains, made the meeting very fruitful.
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President's Report
By Bong Enriquez
Good morning everyone. I am glad to see you here today and I welcome you all to our annual assembly.
As my first year of being the President of WOMFI I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support that you have given me, especially to the Board of Trustees and Past Board of Trustees for their untiring support and dedication to serve our organization.
Allow me to look back at the activities we had during my incumbency as president for the period of June 2008 – May 2009.
Our first project was the issuance of ids to our members for free.This is an ongoing project until we are able to issue ids to all our members. I would like to ask you to encourage all our members to submit their pictures as soon as possible. And hopefully we could tie up with big establishement such as SM, Rustans, and other establishments for us to enjoy discounts. We will try to work it out so that our membership will be useful to all of us.
WOMFI also participated on the 158th Anniversary of Marcelo del Pilar last August 30, 2008 in Bulakan, Bulacan. After this event the Board went to Casa Real to meet our members and we had a chance to introduce to them the new set of Board members. We also discussed WOMFI plan and projects.
During this discussion we interviewed some of our members about their experiences with their impo and inkong. The gathering was quite good and successful. We would like to publish the stories that we gathered in our newsletter and in our website. So if there are any of you who would like to share their stories, feel free to email us, or send it through mail. We would be glad to have it posted. And in case some of you still have any items that belong to your Lola’s and Lolo’s, we would like put them on exhibit soon if you are willing to donate or to lend them to us.
Our Board members Dr. Cora Villano and Atty. Elenita Quintana together with Ligaya Dinio particpated also in Bulacan Week with Sen. Peter Cayetano.
The NHI invited WOMFI in the CAEDO exhibit at the Rizal Shrine located at Intramuros. It was attended by Ms. Mercia Aquino, Mr. Daniel Tantoco and our WOMFI secretary Ms. Myra Reyes.
WOMFI organized Leaf Folding Training Projects. Happily to say this project was been successful and very useful to the 10 participants. As of now they have organized themselves as PUNI de Malolos group. We would like to revive this craft in Malolos, and make it a home industry. And I would like to thank all of our members and people behind this succesful training. Special acknowledgement goes to the people who gave us financial support.
The products of this PUNI projects were displayed and exhibited during the anniversary of the Petition letter of the Women of Malolos to Gov. Weyler last Dec. 12, 2008. We also launched our Souvenir shop located in Sto. Nino, “The Farmacia.” This shop will be open and will operate soon. We already prepared a Memorandum of Agreement and we are happy to report that Ms. Pita Tibajia granted us free accommodation to the area. The agreement is renewable every 3 years.
Last Feb. 22, 2009 we celebrated the 120th Anniversary of Rizal’s Letter to the Women of Malolos. The celebration was marked with simple wreathlaying joined by our members and the PUNI de Malolos Group. After the floral offering the group proceeded in Casa Real for a small reception/ get together.
On November 19, 2009, we will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of WOMFI. Our theme for this event is “Own A Piece of History: Adopt A Heritage Home”, by which we hope to generate interest in the public and private sectors regarding the preservation of homes associated with the Women of Malolos as heritage sites.
It is, without doubt, an ambitious project, and we are hoping that our membership’s enthusiasm will keep alive the legacy of our illustrious forbears will lead the way to our eventual success. It would also be an excellent opportunity for our members to encourage the participation of the younger generation in maintaining awareness of the rich cultural heritage of Malolos.
We are calling all of you: please participate. We’ll be having also a fashion show about the evolution of dresses from the 18th century to present. Those who want to join modeling these dresses feel free to inquire at WOMFI Secretariat Office or any of the Members of Committee. We would also like to appeal to those who still have in their possession barot’ saya of your Lolas to lend us so when can use them for the show. This fashion show will be personally supervised by a well known director in the fashion industry, Mr. Jackie Aquino. He is also Board Member.
We will also have exhibits about Malolos, such as: Arts and crafts, culinary arts, souvenirs, books and articles about the Women of Malolos, etc.
Lastly, thank you for giving me the chance to serve you and I promise together with the members of the Board and all the members that we will continue promoting the legacy of the Women of Malolos.
Thank you at magadang umaga!

Vicente “Bong” Enriquez

Our Newly Elected Board Member
Member Member
Myra Lapid & Adolfo Reyes

WOMFI on “MORNINGS WITH M”
Saturday, May 27,2009, WOMFI members BONG ENRIQUEZ, MERCIA AQUINO, BRENDA CANCIO and CYNTHIA GENATO met at Philippine Information Agency at the invitation of MILA ALORA for a taping of her morning talk show “MORNINGS WITH M” broadcast over DWBR FM every Saturday from 8:00 – 9:00 .
The taping itself began with Mila briefly introducing the guest panel, and then asking Bong how he found himself leading an organization that, on the surface, appears to be a women’s organization. In reply, Bong pointed out that ; it is primarily an organization comprised mainly of descendants of these women, not all of whom, obviously, are female. Bong also mentioned that anyone who believes in, and shares in the principles of the women, are welcome as members
Then Mila proceeded to provide the listeners with a background about the letter of Rizal addressed to the Women of Malolos; and then segued into asking Bong to introduce the other members of the panel. The first question directed to them was how Brenda, Mercia, and Cynthia were related to the Women of Malolos, and which particular women. The next point of interest referred to the exact number of women involved in presenting the petition. History puts the number of women at 20, but Bong pointed out that recent evidence shows that while 20 women actually signed the petition. 21 women presented themselves before Governor General Weyler on that fateful day – alas, her identity is lost to time and she will be forever known as “Senyorita X”!
Mila then brought up the topic of the Kamestizuhan houses of the Pariancillo District of Malolos. Bong mentioned the “Maginoo ng Malolos”, gentlemen who were leaders of the time, and most of whom were related to the young women. When asked how it felt to have these famous women as ancestors, Brenda expressed her pride in having two of them in the family tree; Mercia noted that the Women of Malolos was always a fascinating topic for her, first through her mother’s stories, and later expanded upon through her association with the late Dra. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, the founder of the group. In the case of Cynthia, whose Tiongson ancestors formed a good part of the group, she said it was interesting to note how the women broke the “stereotypical Maria Clara” image of the women of that time, citing the retort of the women to the friars suggestion that their evening school be held in the convent: “No, thank you! We know very well what happens to young women inside the convent...”
A short discussion on Rizal’s letter followed, noting that it is the only written work of the national hero that is in Tagalog. This then led to a discussion on the origin of the world “Malolos”, which Bong said could have come from the world “maluslos”, or “from the water” (referring to the river ecosystems that cross the area), which over time became the present name
Mila then asked the panel about WOMFI’s current projects. The recent PUNI DE MALOLOS was brought up, followed by the launch of “OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY - ADOPT A HERITAGE HOME”, a major project in connection with the 10th Year Anniversary of the Foundation. The topic touched on Malolos as a Heritage Site on which the Fdn. Is capitalizing to achieve the restoration of the ALBERTA UITANGCOY house as its first project..
Before the end of the taping, Bong was asked to talk about his mother’s (Milagros Enriquez) book, “Kasaysayan ng Kaluto ng Bayan”. The book includes recipes from before the Spanish colonial era until the present. These are simple, every day recipes, many of which have passed into popular culture without people knowing the history behind the dishes. Readers will discover the favorite foods of our national heroes, culled from the oral history of their descendants.
At this point, Mila concluded the show taping by thanking the WOMFI members for their participation. CMG

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The 111th Anniversary of Philippine Independence was celebrated at Barasoain Church last June 12, 2009. Picture above shows Ligaya Dinio, Cora Villano, with Mayor Danny Domingo, Agnes Crisostomo and Atty. Elen Quintana at the ceremonies.

Seniors and Elderly
Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says:‘Slim, I’m 83 years old now and I’m just full of aches and pains. I know you’re about my age. How do you feel?’Slim says, ‘I feel just like a newborn baby.’
‘Really!? Like a newborn baby!?’
‘Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.’
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