The Working Women of the 19th Century Manila
Mujer del Campo or Mujer Indigena
“Magtanim ay ‘di biro.”
As the famous folk song goes, the farmer’s work is never easy, especially during the 19th century when mechanized milling and farming were not yet widespread in the country.
During that time, one could still see farmers plying the streets of Manila since there were still vast rice fields in the arrabales of Sampaloc, Santa Cruz, and Tondo. While the male farmers planted and harvested the palay, it was usually the women who manually processed the palay to obtain bigas. This included drying the palay in the sun and pounding it once brittle, as shown in the 1859 drawing below. The latter, called pagbabayó, was featured in many illustrations as a cuadro de costumbre (typical scene) and “a daily task,” showcasing the strength of the women farmers as they pounded rice all day.
Rice farmers have ever since been an important part of the country’s subsistence. After all, who would supply those extra rice servings in the carinderia? Sadly, however, women farmers were already underappreciated during the 19th century. Historian Ma. Luisa Camagay commented that the woman farmer was not included as an oficio or formal/registered job, and was simply called “mujer indigena” (indigenous woman) or “mujer del campo” (rural woman).
Picture by C.W. Andrews, Ilustración Filipina, 15 October 1859. From Biblioteca Digital AECID.
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