Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1920 — FILIPINAS GET BALLOT BEFORE AMER. SISTERS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FILIPINAS GET BALLOT BEFORE AMER. SISTERS

Senora de Veyra Describe* Status of Women in the Philippines. The Flllpfno woman is destined tt be in the world’s spotlight more than •ver before as a result of the news Just received by cable from Manila to the effect that the Philippine senate hau passed the equal suffrage bill giving women full political rights with men. This would indicate that the Filipina may beat her American sisters to the ballot box. The Filipina has many admirers who predict she will make good if she gets the vote, Just as she has made good in the very important role she has occupied in the family and business life of the Philippines ever since the introduction of Christianity in the Islands three centuries ago.

‘•America’s advent In the Philippines discovered a wonderfully Interesting, responsive little being, the Filipino woman," writes one American concerning

the Filipina. “Mothering the only Christian people in the far east, she holds a place of authority, love and respect In family and social life that Is not accorded to women in countries neighboring the islands, or in China or Japan.” A Filipina who is doing an important work for her people in the United States is Mrs. Jaime C de Veyra, wife of the resident commissioner from the Philippines. Not only has she frequently addressed the wives of members of Congress in Washington as to conditions in the new Philippines, but she has visited various cities, speaking

before women s ciuus. me senora wears, in giving her talks, one of the beautiful gowns of her .home land, a delicate pineapple fabric, hand-woven and hand-embroidered, shaped like a gauzy-winged butterfly. “In many ways the path of the women of the Philippines is easy," says Senora de Veyra. ‘‘Laws made by her have combined the best of American and Spanish precedents, and she has come into her own with far less struggle than either her American or her Spanish sisters. Married women may hold property in severalty. They are guardians of their own children. These are vested rights and cannot be taken away from her. “Professional opportunities are as good for women as for men in the land from which I come. The Filipina is by custom the dictator in the home. She is usually the keeper of the family treasure. Practically all of the small shops in Manila are conducted by women. Women are already members of the Philippine Bar Association —a thing still impossible in Great Britain. They are also successful as physicians.” Life is really a fifty-fifty proposition for women in the Philippines, according to the senora, who has taken such a prominent part in women’s work there that she has sometimes been referred to as "the little mother of them all.” She was the assistant matron of the Normal Hall Dormitory for Girls when she married. She speaks English fluently and puts her little talks “over” with real tact. She has four children. An evidence of her enterprise was her action last year in mastering shorthand so she might be “useful to her husband at home in the evenings in case he wishes to dictate a few letters or a speech."

MRS. JAIME C. DE VEYRA, A Fillpina who Is doing important work for her people in the United States.