#HijaAko: Frankie Pangilinan amplifies youth voices

After Ben Tulfo’s call to Frankie Pangilinan over the weekend, the 19-year-old remains to be a champ for the unheard voices, not letting the “naivety” slapped to her bring her down.

“I think that yes, ‘hija’ as a term is constantly used in a condescending manner, especially when speaking to youth like me when we have something to say or a point to make. It kind of seems like the first instinct was to invalidate everything I was saying based upon my age.” This was what Pangilinan said as she spoke in an interview with ANC on Wednesday, June 17.

This, after she shared her views about a report on a police station prohibiting women from wearing “sexy outfits” to avoid rape. She emphasized that people should stop teaching girls how to dress but teach people to not rape, adding that her clothes are not a form of consent.

breaking news: my clothing is NOT my consent.

— hija (@kakiep83) June 14, 2020

This is when Tulfo tweeted to her with, “Hija @kakiep83, a rapist or a juvenile sex offender’s desire to commit a crime will always be there. All they need is an opportunity, when to commit the crime. Sexy ladies, careful with the way you dress up! You are inviting the beast.”

– rape culture is real and a product of this precise line of thinking, where the behavior is normalized, particularly by men.
– the way anyone dresses should not be deemed as ‘opportunity’ to sexually assault them. ever.
– calling me hija will not belittle my point. https://t.co/bLbtEDVGBn

— hija (@kakiep83) June 14, 2020

Tulfo’s response did not silence Pangilinan as she wrote back several points like rape culture being real and clothes not being an opportunity for sexual assault.

But also, she added, “Calling me hija will not belittle my point.”

In the same interview, she explained that at 19, it is “incredibly invalidating” because like many of the youth, they are doing their best to educated and aware of these matters.

“He’s not a woman. I don’t think he’s ever experienced any sort of abuse similar to that. I don’t think he’s ever experienced any sort of discrimination through his gender. I don’t think it was within his place to say something like that,” she explained, adding that Tulfo’s comment  was just “very unprofessionally made.”

With the attention on Pangilinan and her courage to speak up, she said in several tweets that she has received direct messages about different stories of abuse. And while she cannot respond to the hundreds she has received, she continued to uplift her followers with kind words of encouragement.

Pangilinan also used the term ‘hija’ with pride, even using it as her Twitter name and with several netizens joining her in the hashtag #HijaAko

#HijaAko pic.twitter.com/LYXZqsoVSz

— hija (@kakiep83) June 14, 2020

#HijaAko
by jazmin reyes pic.twitter.com/5KR6lMjf7K

— hija (@kakiep83) June 15, 2020

However, Pangilinan clarified in a tweet that despite the support on this movement, her priority, for now, is to hear the unheard.

been asked a few times now if i’ll be pushing the #HijaAko movement into a greater advocacy. while the brainstorming is imminent, i think it’s more important right now to take the time to hear from all the people who were brave enough to share their stories.

— hija (@kakiep83) June 17, 2020

Despite this, several have shown their thumbs up and nods to the idea that #HijaAko can still strive to be something bigger.