Why women are invisible in history 1 -- The Filipina: A historical legal perspective 22 -- Ang babaylan sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas 52 -- Ang Pilipina sa panahon ng himagsikan at digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano 73 -- American colonial education and its impact on the status of Filipino women 79 -- Panuelo activism 109 -- The participation of women in the huk movement 131 -- Participation of women's groups in the anti-dictatorship struggle: Genesis of a movement 141 -- Public policy advocacy in a democratizing society: tactics and strategies for women's groups 169 -- Women and politics in contemporary Philippines 178 -- Appendices -- The babaylan in Philippine history 209 -- Notes on the contributors 224

The Conference of Women's Role in Philippine History was held on March 9-10, 1989 in the U.P. Diliman Campus as a part of the celebration of International Women's Week. The newly-created U.P. Center for Women's Studies co-sponsored the activity together with a number of women's organization, professional associations and academic institutions. To ensure a wider dissemination of the research findings, analyses and information on the historical role of women in the Philippines, the Center decided to publish the proceedings of the conferences in the languages in which they were written or delivered. The late Priscilla Manalang (1919-1995), member of the Center's Coordinating Committee and Proserpina Domingo Tapales, Conference Chair and the Center's Coordinator for Training and Outreach at the time, edited the English and Filipino papers and discussions, respectively. We gratefully acknowledge their help and contribution. In publishing Women's Roles in Philippine History: Selected Essay, the Center joins the nation and the U.P. in its celebration of the Centennial of the Philippines Revolution. It has brought together the papers presented at the Conference which bear directly on the role of women through the different period of Philippine history and emphasize the revolutionary nature of women's participation. The Selected Essays is the first of several publication which the Center hopes to bring out in celebration of the Centennial and to highlight the fact that women did have a role in the history of our country as they do now, in the process of nation-building. -Sylvia H. Guerrero (Director, U.P. Center for Women Studies)