by Tuongvi Tran, staff writer
November 6, 2007 12:19 PM
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/magazine/009256.html
A young Filipino mother and her children come home one Fall evening after having dinner with friends. Despite being harassed by her ex-boyfriend, she managed to live a “normal” life. After walking into her Richmond district home, she noticed her ex-boyfriend was already inside waiting for her.
On the night of Oct. 22, 2000, police entered the Richmond district home and entered a gruesome scene – a bloody young woman slouched over a kitchen chair. Claire Joyce Tempongko had been stabbed to death in front of her children by ex-boyfriend Tari Ramirez.
Prior to her death, Tempongko had called 911 six times over the past 18 months, according to San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women. In addition she had also filed police reports, stating his abusive behavior, and filed for a restraining order.
Tempongko’s death sparked outrage in the Filipino community, as many wondered why nothing had been done to protect Tempongko and her children prior to the homicide.
Babae, meaning “woman” in Tagalog, is a grassroots organization created in 2004 by eight women who wanted to prevent future domestic violence-related homicides from occurring. Also, it serves as a resource for a topic that is prevalent, but rarely discussed, in the Filipino community.
“In general, Filipino men always feel dominant,” says SF State student Cherryl Llamas, who believes it’s very typical in the Filipino culture to have some degree of violence. She also believes Filipinas continue to be in domestically abusive relationships due to their upbringing. “Usually, they don’t have a father figure and they see their parents’ relationship and they think that’s the way their boyfriend should act – the trend basically gets misconcepted generally from their family values and ethics.”
According to a fact sheet released by the California State Domestic Violence Interagency Collaborative, 5.8% of California women experience domestic violence a year – 4.8% of which are Asian females. Also, of the 54 undocumented Filipino women residing in the Bay Area, 20% have reported experiencing some form of domestic violence, according to Babae’s website.
Three years later on the night of Oct. 29, seventeen men and women gather at the Filipino Community Center – it’s Babae’s open house. While Villasper and her colleague Marisa Mariano tells the attendees about the organization’s work and reasons why they should volunteer, the topic of conversation naturally gravitates towards the catalyst in why Babae was formed – Claire Joyce Tempongko.
“She did everything right,” says Babae’s organization development coordinator Elaine Villasper in the bottom floor of the Filipino Community Center in the Excelsior district. “She filed for a restraining order, called the police and her partner went through batterer classes. There just weren’t enough services to address her needs.”
Babae uses educational workshops and community forums and acts as a liaison between battered women and the resources they need to be connected with. Unlike many of the city services available, Babae has Tagalog-speaking volunteers that are able to communicate easier with victims.
Also according to the fact sheet, “language, fear about immigration status, and other barriers may limit an immigrant woman’s resources to shelter or financial assistance should she attempt to flee her abuser.”
“There are major loopholes in the system,” says 24-year-old Villasper, who recently graduated from SF State in the spring. “It specifically targets women of color – immigrants – who won’t have, or don’t know of, the resources available to them.”
In addition to not knowing the language or having citizenship, a lot of Filipino women are not telling others about their abusive relationship because they do not want to be looked down at by their peers.
“Nakaka hiya – it means ‘it’s embarrassing,’” explains Villasper. “Some women think it’s shameful to burden other people with their problems – it’s a closed door policy.”
While Babae’s Tagalog-speaking volunteers have opened many lines of communication between the organization and the community, other volunteers’ unique skills have been helpful. Villasper is a certified domestic violence counselor.
And tonight’s open house also brings out 25-year-old Madeline Stacy, who is a quarter Filipina and eager to join Babae and help victims.
“I’ve never been part of a community like this – I’ve always looked white and had those privileges,” says Stacy, whose grandma was born in the Philippines. “I’m trained in crisis intervention for domestic violence and sexual assaults. I want to help.”
As the open house ends and people slowly trickle out of the Filipino Community Center, Villasper and a few other attendees stay behind to clean up the refreshments table and put away tables and chairs. While seventeen people may sound like a no-show event, for the organization that was formed on eight women, it’s an ever-expanding collective.
Isang Bagsak.
Lisette Poole | staff photographer
At the BABAE Open House on Oct. 29, 2007, attendees make gingerbread men cutouts, and write their goals and interests on them to later share with the group. Tina Shauf, (left) 26, explains her gingerbread man to the group and everyone took turns presenting their art project to the group as a way to get to know each other.
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