A LITERARY CRITIQUE OF RUTH ELYNIA S.

MABANGLO’S

“LIHAM NI PINAY MULA SA BRUNEI”

I. INTRODUCTION

Working abroad is a big sacrifice. It is both physically and mentally agonizing to

be separated from families for a long time without assurance of what lies ahead and
what risks awaits you abroad. To work abroad takes a lot of courage, the moment
an OFW decide to work overseas miles away from their loved ones shows how brave
and courageous they are. It takes a lot of guts to go alone in a country which is
completely foreign to you, a country with foreign customs and traditions which you
don’t belong. Filipinos, especially Filipino women takes all of these risks for the
betterment of their families that are left behind. They are more than willing to give
up their responsibilities in their own home to work abroad to provide a brighter
future for their children even though it means giving up their own happiness.
All though it hurts for a mother not to be with the people she cherishes the
most, especially her children to be with them to celebrate on their special days like
birthdays and graduations, if it means providing their needs, then she would
definitely do it without any hesitations. They swallow their own pride taking care of
people that is not even related to them and are completely strangers while their
children are far away from them, left behind and no mother to lean on in times of
difficulties.
This shows how heroic mothers can be. They not only provide for their families
but also provides for our country. That is why Filipino women are portrayed to be
the greatest mothers, a woman that prioritizes her children over everything, even
over the norms and traditions of the society. These are acts that we, the younger
generations, must and should look up to. We have to bear in our minds the bravery
and sacrifices of every Filipino mothers and make this as an inspiration to do right
things for one’s own development.
II. BODY

Ruth Elynia S. Mabanglo also known as Ruth Mabanglo is a Filipina poet living in
Hawaii, she worked there as a University professor. She wrote “Liham ni Pinay mula sa
Brunei” to raise awareness to the younger generation, especially young women, in
topics concerning roles of men and women in the society. This poem breaks the barrier
of the common misconception about the norms that we believe and follow about the
roles of women.

To further understand the poem we must know the elements of poetry that is
present in this particular piece, this will help us understand the dynamics Ruth Mabanglo
used to express her insights about the topics relating to women discrimination.

Liham ni Pinay mula sa Brunei is made up of five stanzas and each stanzas has
different numbers of lines. The poem has rhythm which means that there is a rhyme
scheme present in the poem at the end of every line. For Example in the first stanza:

Ako’y guro, asawa at INA.

Isang babae--pupol ng pabango, pulbos at SEDA,

Kaulayaw ng batya, kaldero at KAMA.

Napagod yata ako’t NANGHINAWA,

Nagsikap mangibang-LUPA.

The first stanza is made up of five lines with rhyming sounds (the a sound) in every
last word in each lines, this is applied by most of the poets to render a pleasant effect to
the poem which will make the recital experience more enjoyable.

The first line of this stanza establishes the basic role of every Filipino women:

“Ako’y guro, asawa at ina,”

In the Philippines, the basic role of a woman is only limited to two, it’s either remain
unmarried free from commitment or became a servant of her children and taking care
of them until they are capable enough to raise their own family. For so long, this is the
common norms every Filipino follows, leaving the women with no choice but to stay at
home with their children, they’ve been excluded and less priority of the society giving
them lack of opportunities to work and find a decent job outside their respective homes.

This stanza, particularly the second line “Isang babae--pupol ng pabango, pulbos at
seda” discusses another societal expectation where woman should look pleasant all the
time no matter how agonizing her life working abroad, that even though she’s “a woman
scented with perfume and powder” deep inside she’s tired and in pain. She has to look
good to please the society in which she belongs. She may have a good life because she
can afford to buy things she wanted but it didn’t make her life easy, she has to work
hard in order to live.

This stanza also implies that working abroad is not as easy as we think. Making
money there is not the same here; you have to spend your time in your job in order to
earn a good amount of buck.

“Iyo’t iyon din ang lalaking umuupo sa kabisera,

Nagbabasa ng diyaryo uma-umaga.

Naghihintay siya ng kape

At naninigarilyo,

Habang kagkag ako sa pagitan ng kuna at libro,

Nagpapahid ng lipstick at nagpapatulo ng gripo.

Hindi siya nag-aangat ng mukha

Umaaso man ang kawali o umiingit ang bata.

Hinahatdan ko siya ng brief at tuwalya sa banyo,

Inaaliw kung mainit ang ulo.”

The second stanza embodies all her hardships brought by her responsibilities as a
mother and a wife while working. It is clearly stated how she manages to do it all by
herself while her husband takes no responsibility to her, instead, she just let her face all
of these problems by herself.
 Since it is already part of the belief that problems are all part of life of humans, her
husband doesn’t bother himself to lend a hand on her just to lessen her pains and
burdens that she is suffering.

In the last three stanzas, she expressed her tiredness due to the cause of her
responsibilities and how much she desires to be free of those responsibilities. She want
to prove that all women are not worthy of these unwanted sufferings, that women can
do things what men can do.

Through this poem, she wants to introduce her advocacy about equal distributions of
opportunities between men and women.

III. CONCLUSION

With a careful analysis and understanding of this poem through the use of feminist
approach, we can conclude that the main purpose of this poem is to raise awareness to
the younger generation about the role of man and woman in the society. For me it gives
the millennials the courage to change the accustomed belief that is prevailing in the
society that women are for the household chores only.

This piece wants to impart that women are capable of things men can do. This
writing also leaves a huge impact on the readers about respect on one’s personal
preference of career path choice. And lastly, this piece breaks the rule of stereotyping
between sexes. All opportunities offered to men should also be offered to women to
strengthen the voice of women and erase discrimination in the society.