Rosa Sevilla-Alvero was one of the most outspoken women of her time. She was a prominent figure in the Philippine suffragist movement and dedicated much of her life towards advocating for women’s greater participation in civic and political life. From an early age, Rosa knew that women had a bigger role to play in society. Her perspectives on women’s rights were shaped by the electrifying debates and discussions that took place in the Tolentino household, where she spent much of her time.

At 21, Rosa founded the Instituto Mujeres, one of the first schools for women in the Philippines. The curriculum of Instituto Mujeres was considered revolutionary at that time and provided women an alternative to the widely implemented American-style education during the American colonisation of the Philippines. In the school she established, students were prepared to build a nation and to learn indigenous languages, which were consigned solely within the four walls of one’s house.

Rosa was also a journalist. She wrote vociferously for Antonio Luna’s newspaper, La Independencia. She would later on become the editor of La Vanguardia, a Spanish newspaper, and eventually establish a magazine called The Woman’s Outlook.

Rosa was only in her 30s when she founded the Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas, a movement that advocated for women’s right to vote. It was during the inauguration of this movement in 11 February 1922 when she delivered this speech on the role of Filipino women during critical junctures in history.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thelitcritter.com/2021/04/21/the-filipino-woman-in-war-and-peace/