Josefina Phodaca-Ambrosio

Josefina Rodil Phodaca-Ambrosio (born about 1917 – died 3 September 1970) was a Filipina lawyer, politician and church leader. She sat on the Manila City Council from 1947 to 1951, and was the first Asian president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), serving from 1958 to 1960.

Josefina Phodaca-Ambrosio
A smiling Philipina woman, her dark hair in an updo
Josefina Phodaca, from a 1948 publication
Born
Josefina Rodil Phodaca

1917 (1917)
Marinduque, Philippine Islands
DiedSeptember 3, 1970(1970-09-03) (aged 52–53)
Occupation(s)Lawyer, politician, church leader
Known forPresident of the International Federation of Women Lawyers

Early life

Josefina Rodil Phodaca was born in Marinduque province, the daughter of Mariano Phodaca and Bonifacia Rodil. Her parents were farmers. She and her sister, Naomi, organized childcare programs and literacy classes in their hometown as young women; both sisters attended law school at the University of Manila. Josefina Phodaca studied urban planning in the United States in 1948,[1] and earned her Master of Laws degree at Yale Law School in 1957.[2][3]

Career

Law and politics in the Philippines

Phodaca was admitted to the bar in Manila in 1940, and shared a law practice with her sister and her brother-in-law.[4] She served on the Manila City Council from 1947 to 1951,[5] as chair of health and welfare, and the only woman on the council during her tenure.[6][7][8] During her time on the council she campaigned against gambling and prostitution in the city.[9] In 1949, she was founder and leader of the short-lived National Political Party of Women in the Philippines, and chair of the Civic Assembly of Women of the Philippines.[4] She was active in the YWCA, Girl Scouting, the National Federation of Women’s Clubs, and the women's suffrage and family planning movements in the Philippines.[10] In 1970, she received the Presidential Award of Merit from Ferdinand Marcos.[2]

International work

Phodaca was elected president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in 1958,[11][12][13] and was an advisor to the Philippines' delegation to the United Nations.[2] In 1959 she was appointed to the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines.[14]

Church work

Phodaca was an ordained elder in the Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila.[15] In 1953 she became head of the United Council of Evangelical Church Women.[16][17] Phodaca attended the United Church Women in America meeting in Ohio in 1955,[18][19] joined a "fellowship team" on a world tour,[20] and traveled in the United States as a lecturer sponsored by the United Church Women and the Presbyterian Board of Missions.[16][21] In 1968, Phodaca-Ambrosio attended the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala, where she, Pauli Murray, Rena Karefa-Smart, Annie Jiagge, and others worked to improve women's representation on the council's governing bodies.[22]

Personal life

Phodaca married widowed lawyer and businessman Dominador Belmonte Ambrosio in 1958.[12] She was widowed when her husband died in 1964.[23] She died in 1970.[2]

References
  1. "Petite 31-Year-Old Filipino Studies U.S. Slum Clearance". Dayton Daily News. 1948-09-02. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Salvador, Tranquilino G. S. III (28 August 2020). "My lolas in a man's world". Manila Standard. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  3. Townsend, Dorothy (25 May 1957). "First Manila (P.I.) Councilwoman to Be Speaker at Iota Tau Tau Tea". Los Angeles TImes. p. B6 – via ProQuest.
  4. Townsend, Dorothy (1955-08-10). "Philippines Called America's Best Ally". The Los Angeles Times. p. 62. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1948 Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet Official Program (Manila 1948): 22; via Internet Archive
  6. Goodhue, Norma H. "Filipina Lawmaker Urges Woman in Council Here" Los Angeles Times (September 11, 1948): A16. via Newspapers.com
  7. "Woman Councilor Leads Fight to Clean Up Manila". The Boston Globe. 1951-03-18. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Jeep-Riding Purse Thieves Busy in Manila; Woman Menber [sic] of City Council Robbed at Dock". The Herald-News. 1949-04-14. p. 34. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Churches Back Drive to Combat Vice". The Christian Century. 68: 440. 4 April 1951 – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Political Leader will be Speaker". The Montclair Times. 1957-03-14. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "About us". FIDA. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  12. Mason, Nadine (19 August 1958). "Presidency at Stake: Election Fight Faces Lawyers". Los Angeles Times. p. A1 – via ProQuest.
  13. Mason, Nadene (1958-08-22). "Law Group Hears Rocketeer". The Los Angeles Times. p. 29. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Messages of the President Book 8: Carlos P. Garcia (Volume 2). p. 156 – via Internet Archive.
  15. "News and Clues". Concern. 1: 13. February 1959 – via Internet Archive.
  16. "Miss Josefina Phodaca to Speak". Oklahoma City Star. 1955-05-06. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Filipino Woman Lawyer to Talk to Women of Church Tomorrow". The Times-Tribune. 1955-10-04. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Stokes, Lydia B. (4 February 1956). "United Church Women" (PDF). Friends Journal: 74.
  19. "Manila Attorney to Speak". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1955-11-02. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Rowland, Wilmina (11 June 1955). "Church Women Circle the World". Presbyterian Life. 8: 30 – via Internet Archive.
  21. "Militant Christianity Needed Philippine Woman Declares". The South Bend Tribune. 1955-05-05. p. 32. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Murray, Pauli (2018-05-08). Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage. Liveright. ISBN 978-1-63149-459-8.
  23. "G.R. No. L-30206". The LawPhil Project. March 30, 1970. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
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