National Women’s Month 2026: Reclaiming the Babaylan Spirit at Home and Beyond

As the Philippines celebrates Women’s Month, the Philippine Commission on Women calls on to embrace the Babaylan spirit for a Bagong Pilipinas

Every March, we celebrate the strength and stories of Filipinas. But this year, the call feels deeper — more rooted, more urgent.

For National Women’s Month 2026, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is inviting Filipinas to look back — way back — to the time before colonization, when women stood at the center of communities as Babaylans: healers, scholars, political advisers, and spiritual leaders.

It is a powerful reminder for modern parents raising daughters — and sons — in today’s world: women’s empowerment is not a borrowed idea. It has always been ours.

Taking Our Story Back

In its official statement, the PCW emphasized that women’s leadership is not a new or foreign construct.

“We will remind ourselves of our roots and remember that women’s empowerment is neither a recent nor foreign construct. It is a birthright we are now taking back!”

The Babaylan, often misunderstood as merely spiritual figures, were pillars of pre-colonial Filipino society. They shaped decisions, preserved knowledge, mediated conflicts, and cared for their people’s well-being. They were authorities in social, economic, and political spheres — long before these spaces became male-dominated under colonial rule.

The PCW described the Babaylan not as a relic of the past, but as the original DNA of Filipina leadership — grounded in harmony, balance, wisdom, and courage.

For parents today, that perspective shift matters. When we teach our daughters confidence, leadership, and independence, we are not encouraging rebellion. We are encouraging remembrance.

Leadership on a Regional Stage

This year also holds significance as the Philippines assumes leadership roles within ASEAN, including chairing the regional body and leading the ASEAN Committee on Women. The PCW frames this as a continuation of the Babaylan spirit — Filipinas not just participating in progress, but shaping it.

“As stewards of Bagong Pilipinas, Filipino women are not merely silent partners and beneficiaries of ASEAN’s regional progress; they are strategists, innovators, and anchors of sustainability,” the commission said.

It’s a message that resonates beyond policy halls. It echoes in classrooms, boardrooms — and dining tables.

A Call to Action: L.E.A.D.

For 2026, the PCW challenges women and girls to embody the Babaylan spirit through four simple but powerful actions:

• L – Liberate yourself from barriers that limit your potential
• E – Embrace the power to empower yourself and others
• A – Assert your voice with courage, truth, clarity, and conviction
• D – Devote your talents to building Bagong Pilipinas and ASEAN

“Leading as a woman is about remembering who we have always been: an authority with integrity, compassion, wisdom, and fire for humanity and country. Mabuhay ang diwa ng Babaylan! Mabuhay ang kababaihang Pilipino! Lead like a Babaylan, Filipinas!”

For mothers raising young girls, this isn’t just a campaign slogan. It’s a parenting framework.

Are we teaching our daughters to liberate themselves from limiting beliefs?

Are we modeling what it means to assert our voices respectfully but firmly?

Are we raising sons who understand that women’s leadership is not a threat — but a legacy?

Babae Ka, Hindi “Babae Lang”

In many Filipino households, women are often introduced first as nurturers — mothers, daughters, wives. And while caregiving is powerful, it is not the whole story.

Going back to our roots reminds us that women were decision-makers, negotiators, and knowledge-keepers. They carried both softness and strength. They nurtured families and shaped communities.

As parents, we have an opportunity to reclaim that narrative at home.

Tell your daughters they are not “just girls.”

Tell your sons that leadership has always had a woman’s voice.

Tell yourself that your ambition and your motherhood can coexist.

Because long before empowerment became a hashtag, it was already embodied in the Babaylan.

And perhaps this Women’s Month, the most powerful thing we can teach our children is this: our daughters are not becoming strong – they already come from strength.

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Connie Aquino: Knowing Women’s Rights Is Important