{"id":56605,"date":"2023-03-31T16:00:48","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/?p=56605"},"modified":"2023-03-31T16:27:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T08:27:58","slug":"women-at-the-forefront-of-their-passion-and-their-advocacies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/story\/56605\/women-at-the-forefront-of-their-passion-and-their-advocacies\/","title":{"rendered":"Women at the forefront of their passion and their advocacies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the National Women\u2019s Month comes to a close, we feature three women advocates from Iloilo who are passionate about the advocacies they are leading. Joy Tormon Penetrante is an education student who also works as Proyekto Philippines\u2019 project lead. John Steve Cercado, a student from West Visayas State University, is a part of Iloilo\u2019s West Drag Queens Community and performs on stage as Viper. Jarrah Brillantes, a faculty member from Central Philippine University and a law student who is the local volunteer lead for the newly established Greenpeace Philippines – Iloilo Local Volunteer Group.<\/p>\n\n

An inspired mother and educator<\/h2>\n\n
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Photo courtesy of Joy Tormon Penetrante<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Joy Tormon Penetrante is a graduating student from West Visayas State University (WVSU) taking up a BSEd Major in Mathematics. Her love for nature stems from her love for travel. \u201cMy passion for travel and seeing nature is what pushed me to be an environmental advocate,\u201d Penetrante said, \u201cWhile I\u2019m enjoying this right now, I want my child to experience what I\u2019m experiencing. And there should be someone who will protect the environment, or at least start the call to act for its protection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

She also works as a project lead for Proyekto Philippines aside from being a student teacher, this allows her to share her advocacy with kids and students in the communities that she serves, by teaching them the importance of taking care of the environment. \u201cI really need to find a way to connect with my students and to actively communicate our advocacy without imposing it,\u201d Penetrante said. \u201cWe have to make them understand that even with our small actions, collectively we can make a big impact.<\/p>\n\n

She explains that she lets her students discover how taking care of the environment relates to them. She uses art and storytelling activities to further engage her students in their advocacy. \u201cI always believed that by creating awareness among our students, they will find a cause that they would want to fight for by themselves. And I always tell them to never fear to discover things that they want to do, never fear the uncertainties and just put their heart to it,\u201d Penetrante adds.<\/p>\n\n

A confident queen<\/h2>\n\n

\u201cIt is my dream to perform as a drag queen and it started at our school, West Visayas State University. I am very thankful for the opportunity to perform when I joined WVSU-Drag Community,\u201d John Steve Cercado, also known as Viper said, when we caught up to her during their series of drag shows celebrating Women\u2019s Month titled Babae<\/em>. \u201cWhen I\u2019m on stage my confidence is immediately there; my enthusiasm to perform is just overwhelming that I want to show the talent I was given.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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\u00a9 Grace Cabus \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cDrag shows are a mix of singing, dancing, and acting which makes it an overall package in terms of entertainment,\u201d Viper said. \u201cThis, I suppose, is our advantage. Us drag queens are a total package and we have the freedom on stage to do what we want. We have the freedom to express ourselves as part of the LGBTQ+ community, at the same time, entertain our audience. Even if it’s their first time watching a show, they will see how amazing and awesome we are. We really got the wow factor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

While drag shows have already been a part of the LGBTQ+ culture for a long time, not all people are ready to enjoy the vibrant and exciting performances of these shows. This comes from a long-standing discrimination toward the LGBTQ+ community.\u00a0 \u201cWe cannot force people to accept what is our passion, and they may not be ready to adapt,\u201d Viper said. \u201cHowever, we are trying to change the mindset of everyone by showcasing our talent. Drag shows are our platform where we fully express our identity; that our identity shouldn\u2019t be a hindrance and a reason to treat us rudely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

An exemplar volunteer<\/h2>\n\n

Greenpeace Philippines recently launched its first official local group outside of Metro Manila.<\/a> Iloilo City was chosen to be the pilot city to spearhead the campaign for better cities because of its high rate of volunteerism and active citizenry across different sectors.<\/p>\n\n

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Photo courtesy of Jarrah Brillantes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cIn our local group, we have bikers, women\u2019s rights advocates, sports enthusiasts, artists, and the youth,\u201d Iloilo local group leader, Jarrah Brillantes said. \u201cAt the same time, the local government also shows strong support for the vision we want to make. The city also wants to move toward becoming a more sustainable city. Iloilo is just the right place because there are a lot of social movements here and the participation of the locals is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Even before she became a Greenpeace volunteer, Jarrah has been working on several community projects in and out of Iloilo City. \u201cWe have been working with local government units even before the local volunteer group was established. Having an existing working relationship with the local government will make it easier for us to introduce Greenpeace campaigns here in Iloilo,\u201d Brillantes said. \u201cWe may still be a handful of people right now, but I believe in our capability and strength to represent communities and the environment through local policies and changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

On better cities and communities<\/h2>\n\n

\u201cIf we can already live and develop our communities without putting the environment in danger, then that\u2019s the kind of a happy community I\u2019m envisioning,\u201d Penetrante said when asked what is her vision of a livable and lovable community. \u201cWe are able to improve our way of life by making peace not only with the people around you, but also with the environment we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

For Viper, while it is still a challenge for the LGBTQ+ community to freely express their gender and sexuality without discrimination, she is still optimistic that every space they walk in will be a safe space for their community. \u201cWe hope that they will see what\u2019s good in our passion and identity, that there is nothing wrong with what we show and what we are. What we are doing through drag shows is to represent our community\u2019s talent and that there is nothing wrong with what we do. Through this, we hope that we get respected and given importance by others,\u201d Viper concludes.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cOne of the reasons why I became a part of the local volunteer group here is because of Greenpeace\u2019s campaign for better cities. We take pride in moving toward becoming a livable and lovable city and that concept can only be realized by the population continually reshaping their cities,\u201d Brillantes said. \u201cThis happens when people are participative in pushing for policies and its development and management\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The local volunteer group in Iloilo City is looking forward to working with the local government and different organizations in pursuing more systemic changes that leads to a more livable and lovable city\u2014bound by the same purpose of taking care of the environment and maintaining peace throughout communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the National Women\u2019s Month comes to a close, we feature three women advocates from Iloilo who are passionate about the advocacies they are leading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":56604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-philippines-stateless\/2023\/03\/6c6149f9-nwm2023-collage-1.png","p4_og_image_id":"56604","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[19],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-56605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-society","tag-volunteer","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56605"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56610,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56605\/revisions\/56610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56605"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=56605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}