Economic Activities of the Women of Batangas Province by Tarcila Malabanan

"In Batangas the 'idle lady' does not exist" opened Tarcila Malabanan's essay written in 1916 that became part of the Beyer Collection. It celebrated the industrious women in Batangas, Philippines enumerating the role they play in education and business. How some women charted their path even besting their "good-for-nothing husbands."

Economic Activities of the Women of Batangas 

by Tarcila Malabanan

In Batangas the “idle Lady” does not exist. The women who may be noted down in the census as having “no occupation” will be found upon close investigation to be not an idle, parasitica being depending merely on the bounty of a father, husband, or brother; but a person who more than earns her keep by managing a household, very often doing the work of cook, a maid, and housekeeper, besides being now and then a muse and a seamstress. But setting aside the duties in the home a great majority of the women are engaged to profitable activities outside of it. These activities are varied and multifarious. We may divide them into the following:

I. Professional.– If we look at the records of the Bureau of Education we shall find that very many women in Batangas Province are engaged in teaching. Most of these are municipal teachers drawing salaries from P15 to P35, and a few are in employ of the insular government drawing from P40 to P100 a month. Women belonging to other professions are so few that the quantity of is negligible.

II. Industry and Manufacture.– One of the most important industries of Batangas is weaving; and this and all the steps connected with it are managed exclusively by women. We may note here that one of the steps connected with weaving the knotting of fibers to make what is called “dinugtong” forms in itself a great industry and that many women earn from P.25 to P.75 a day thru this kind of work.

There is a class of hand-embroidery known here in Manila as Batangas embroidery. This worked on several kinds of cloth– white cotton and linen cloths, silk and jusi, but more especially on piña. Most of this fine needlework is done by women from Taal and Batangas towns.

In Batangas much crochet lace is also made, exclusively for American ladies living there.

This town also supplies many towns in the province with cooking nd flower pots. Many of the pot-makers are woven.

III. Trading-Business Transaction.– But the greater part of economic activities of women consist in business transactions buying and selling goods for profits. This covers a wide range of capital from P5 and P10 to a few thousands.

The women of Batangas seem to think it their own particularly legitimate field of activity to keep a store. These women merchants, especially those who deal in cloths and such other things as are imported from Manila are really active. in some towns as in Lipa they have a sort of guild and they consist with vigor enactments of the municipal council which they think are prejudicial to their interests. In going to Manila they often band themselves, and shop together and go home together. Some of the merchants of the larger towns go to smaller and more out-of-the-way towns and sell goods there, on the days when they are not busy in their own towns.

Some other enterprising women deal in raw products, as cocoa, rice, etc. and sell in different places, sometimes to commercial houses in the city. These women handle hundreds of pesos a week and sometimes have a capital of several thousans. There are also many women who deal with jewelry. Sometimes thy have very capital, but generally sell jewels for private individuals with the understanding that they may appropriate for themselves a commission which may be large or small according to their luck.

IV. Labor.-- On the farms the peasant women, besides keeping house for their husbands, cooking the food, sewing the clothes, etc. also help the men in the lighter work of the field. They do not plow, nor do they generally take the animals to pasture, but they help in sowing the seed, in pulling up weeds, and in harvesting the rice. They also sometimes draw water from the wells.

Most of those connected with the laundering of clothes in Batangas are women. A great many wage-earning servants are also women.

V. Miscellaneous. – We must not forget the seamstresses and dressmakers who sew the dresses for women and children as well as some of the simpler garments of men.

There are many women who unwilling to stay idle in the intervals between the regular hours of house-work, and not having enough leisure to keep a “tienda” contrive little devices for earning money. Sometimes they make little native cakes and send their servants or young children to peddle these. Sometimes they sew a little for their neighbors, receiving a few silver coins for their work. In towns where weaving is an important industry in Lipa, women spend their leisure hours knitting fibers of abaca.

Widows and old maids and such married as have good-for-nothing husbands usually manage their lands and other property.

In conclusion we may state that in Batangas province women have as many money-earning activities as the men.

Sources:

Malabanan, Tarcila. "Economic Activities of the Women of Batangas Province." National Library of the Philippines. Accessed on March 8, 2025. URL: https://nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph/OB01/NLPOBMN0037005251/home.htm