Being both a woman and an activist during the ‘70s means having more sets of eyes prying on you. This means carrying the twofold task of braving the dictatorship and dismantling the banes of women’s existence.

Maria Lorena Barros, a revolutionary known as the founder of Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA), continues to be a symbol of the Filipina’s steadfast commitment to women’s emancipation. Her revolutionary pursuit became evident in her writing, particularly in poetry, as her pieces tell the story of her decision to mobilize and organize women during a time of grave oppression.

/they dwell in yellow quiet/

Lorena has always been a firm woman even before becoming an activist. Her mother wanted her to pursue a career in the medical field, but she insisted on shifting to Anthropology to delve deeper into the roots of the Philippine society’s struggle. 

She wrote poems in English under the UP Writers Club where she served as president. Some of these poems, which unmask the influence of US imperialism in the country, were also published in the Philippine Collegian. The student movement strengthened as a response to the rapid privatization and commodification of education that the US-Marcos regime perpetrated.

As the state vilified activists and belittled women, Barros went to the underserved communities and engaged with the marginalized sectors, mostly peasants and workers. She also conducted teach-ins and discussion groups about women’s issues as a member of the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan in 1969. During this time, women became more involved in armed resistance and its just cause to topple the oppressive conditions that they collectively experienced.

/tearing at the roots of ashes/

In her first set of poems published in the Collegian from 1968 to 1969, Lorena dissected systemic issues and exposed the plight of the marginalized.  “A Park is Born,” for instance, discussed how Imelda Marcos used the edifice complex, which involves several infrastructural development projects, to forward Marcos Sr.’s “new society” that caused massive displacement of residents among communities.

Lorena proceeded to criticize the Marcos government’s ties with the US in “Documentary of a War.” In 1968, the youth sector condemned Marcos for backing the US during the US-Vietnam War. Intentionally formatted as a prayer in broken lines and separate phrases, her poem exposed how the youth and women continue their struggle to escape from the violence brought on by US colonialism.

Aside from her political works as a poet, Barros actively joined the frontlines, participating in protest actions and the First Quarter Storm. She then lamented the silence of the people amid the deaths of the innocent in “Strike,” a poem that was part of protest literature—works that expose the national situation— that the Collegian published in 1969. UP students picketed in front of Malacañang to protest against US presence in the Philippines during that year. The Metropolitan Command dispersed the rally, with students arrested and injured.

The growing movement for national liberation continued in 1970. Barros founded and served as the first chairperson of MAKIBAKA to address the roots of women’s oppression, recognizing the imperative to emancipate the nation from the systemic class oppression of the status quo. The pursuit of national liberation, then, was carried on by united women from different backgrounds and sectors with militancy and optimism for social change—the new Filipina that Lorena, in her writing, would encourage Filipinas to be. 

Lorena continued to advance women’s rights with MAKIBAKA, with its first major activity held during the Binibining Pilipinas coronation night in 1970 where the group picketed against the commodification of women.

/by the promise of a new bud/ 

From being an open organization, MAKIBAKA was forced to go underground following the declaration of Martial Law. Along with some comrades, Lorena rejected life’s comforts and went underground during Martial Law after being charged with subversion. She went to the countryside and worked with the farmers, especially peasant women who would eventually become leaders of MAKIBAKA.

Though her poetics stemmed from feelings of grief after being detained by state forces, her principled commitment to the women’s movement also remained in her works. This turn of events was noticeable in her last collection of poems, mostly written when she was detained in the Ipil Rehabilitation Center. 

“Rosal” dwelled on the betrayal of her husband and commander Ramon Sanchez who surrendered to Marcos Sr. in 1975. Here, Lorena faced the hardship of betrayal by a loved one while taking part in the armed struggle, drawing hope from the victory of freedom that awaits. 

“I have seen too much / of suffering among our people / to ever forget what I must love/ and hate/ how can I say I love you still? / You have turned your back/ on this noble undertaking, / this one thing that is pure / and beautiful in our lives, / this epic war for freedom,” read a line from “Rosal.”

In “Ipil,” she became resolute in advancing the people’s war despite enduring grief from the abuse that political prisoners like her experienced. For her, marching forward is the only way not to let their deaths be in vain. “But our friendship draws / its sustenance / from the rich soil of people’s war / It will continue to grow / and bear fruit / for the people,” the poem read. 

As a mother herself and a daughter to a former Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon member, she transcended the traditional conventions of a mother in her poem “Ina.” More than birthing a child, she expressed that mothers can and must also be on the streets to wage a revolution for a just society, breaking away from restrictive roles imposed upon them by the patriarchy.

Lorena continued to write poems centered on the armed struggle. In 1974, she managed to escape from Ipil with other prisoners. Not long after, she was killed on March 24, 1976, in an encounter with the Philippine Constabulary in Mauban, Quezon province.

Her poems transitioned from unfolding society’s ills to expressing desire for national liberation. At a time when dissent can cost one’s life, Lorena’s works strived to wake people from the head-on oppression that they were suffering from. Lorena revolutionized in constructing the image of a new Filipina, which she described as one who is more involved and integrated with the communities. Through her poetry, she asserted that women, who are continuously caged by society, must wage revolutions and be on the frontlines of the pursuit of their liberation. ●

 *A line borrowed from Lorena Barros.