ILOILO – The rough roads she traversed in the past became her stepping stones to overcome the physical limits of her condition.
But was wasn’t easy, according to 52-year-old Analiza Hudierez, an Ilongga with an orthopedic disability, as the country marks Women with Disabilities Day today.
She contracted polio on the left leg when she was one year and nine months old.
“Sang gamay ‘ko indi ako kagwa sa balay kay ginasunlog ako,” said Hudierez who hailed from Barangay Poblacion Ilaya, San Enrique town.
Her protective grandfather prohibited her from going out.
“Ginbasol ko pa sadto si Lord,” Hudierez told Panay News. “Nga-a nga gintagaan ako sang deperensya? Nga-a ang iban wala man?”
As she grew older and with discernment, however, she drew inspiration from her hardships.
And her turning point?
“May nag-recruit sa akon nga kasubong man nga PWD (Persons with Disabilities) nga mangin member sang PWD association sang San Enrique,” Hudierez said.
She decided to join and her “unexpected plot twist” happened.
“I discovered a talent,” she said. “Sa tinuig ko nga pagtambong sa mga seminars and training, nahasa ako sa patag sang baking.”
She joined various competitions, and in fact won as champion in a national contest on cakes and pastries in Metro Manila just this 2018.
“Nagtulo gid luha ko,” Hudierez said. “Kay siling ko, ‘Lord, kon wala ako disability, maka-contest ayhan ako diri…”
Hudierez also finished a two-year course – Associate of Science in Agricultural Technology – at the San Enrique Polytechnic College.
She was even crowned Miss PWDs Western Visayas in 2018.
Hudierez served as barangay councilor for 11 years before Mayor Mediatrix Rosario Fernandez appointed her as focal person of the Person with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) of the local government of San Enrique.
She currently has 601 PWD members.
Now nine years of being the PDAO head, Hudierez said one of the best things she did was sharing her knowledge in baking to her constituents – for free. “
Sa sina may yara man sila sang palangabuhin ukon income,” she said.
Hudierez also taught her fellow members how to make lanterns and bracelets, among others.
She was also determined to have her members undergo trainings “kon paano man sila mangin epektibo sa pagsagod sang baboy kag manok, subong man mag put-up sang sari-sari stores.”
For Hudierez, these accomplishments were past her disability.
“Indi ako pagtuluka sa akon disability. Tuluka ako sa akon abilidad,” she stressed. “Masarangan, masarangan ko gid ina.”
The 1987 Constitution enshrined a State policy for the total development and empowerment of women. It specifically provides that “the State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men” (Section 14, Article II).
Women with disabilities are also part of society and deserve equal rights in the field of law and in all aspects of human endeavor. Their desires for full participation and inclusion in all fields of endeavor are brought about by international mandates and national policies instituted for their empowerment.
In response to this, the Women with Disabilities Day is being observed every last Monday of March of each year, supported by Proclamation No. 744 (2004).
With the support of her husband, a chief cook at a ship, Hudierez was also able to fulfill the needs of their two children until both graduated from college.
Her message to her fellow PWDs?
“Don’t lose hope, never,” Hudierez said. “Maghimakas gid. Indi ninyo pag-isipon nga may disability kamo. Ara gid si Lord nga magasubaybay sa inyo.”
She added: “Padumdomon ninyo nga kon nabuhi ang iban nga tawo nga normal, bisan PWD mabuhi man kay damo sang ginhatag si Lord nga talento.”
“Indi naton pagtaguon kag indi kita manago. Maghimakas gid kita,” Hudierez emphasized./PN
