When former Miss Saigon lead star Monique Wilson, decided to come out and openly talk about her sexuality, she made a small appeal to the press not to make such a big deal out of it.

Her pleas, however, seem to have fallen on deaf ears, and even though some reporters insist they weren’t much surprised by the revelation, a lot of news articles that came out after her interview still focused on her admission rather than the new advocacy she was campaigning for.

She made the admission during a press conference for One Billion Rising, a movement that seeks to end all forms of violence against women. The gathering was held on November 23 at the Music Museum, and was also attended by representatives of women’s groups such as Gabriela, Migrante and Contend-Act.

On surviving and being free
The 42-year-old theater and movie actress made a name for herself after playing the role of Kim (as the alternate of Lea Salonga) in the West End production of Miss Saigon in London. She was also part of the local production of shows such as Rent and The Vagina Monologues, and is one of the current lead stars of Resorts World Manila’s The King and I.

“Actually, I’ve always been free naman, eh, di ba?” Monique said with a hearty laugh when reporters asked her if she felt more free now that she’s opened up.

Monique said although her sexuality has been an open secret in her theater work, she just chose not to talk about it, thinking it would become the bigger issue rather than her advocacies.

 “To me naman, before, I never wanted to divert the issue from my theater advocacy, kasi, I remember those early years, ang hirap talagang mag-sell ng theater shows.”

 “And I always begin to feel na, why am I dumbing down also the media? Lagi naman ninyo akong nire-respeto. So, to me, what’s the big deal in saying it or not saying it? But actually, I’ve always been out in my theater work. A lot of people knew. In fact, at the back of my head, I used to think also, ‘I’m sure lahat naman ng tao alam na…

“So to me, ang assumption ko, lahat naman ng tao alam na, eh. So, bakit ko pa sasabihin? Until one day I realized…actually, hindi.”

Monique then made an even bigger revelation as to what convinced her to come out. “Kasi, the root of that is… ang nangyari was I was diagnosed with blood cancer two years ago. What I have is a type of blood cancer that is chronic. I take chemo tablets, four a day. They say na wala pa siyang cure but if you manage it, then you can extend your life or prolong it.”

Despite the side effects of her medication, Monique says she is not complaining and feels lucky to be alive.

 “At that moment, parang inisip ko na, you know what? Life is too short, di ba? It demands that we do something meaningful with our lives, not only for ourselves. Then, parang all the doubts and fears I had about everything, not just my sexuality, and even about my advocacy, my life choices, all became clear.

“Ganoon pala when you face mortality, or life and death experience? You get clarity and you also get urgency to be able to say something significant. “So, to me, that was the start. ‘Tapos ito pang One Billion Rising came about.”

Stop the violence
According to Monique, research showed that more than a billion women continue to experience violence, abuse and exploitation globally. Reported cases of women and children victims of rape and incest in the Philippines have reached an alarming level with the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) documenting a 47.74 percent increase in cases of violence against women and children.

“Despite many laws enacted in the recent decade aimed at protecting women and children such as RA 9262 or the Anti-VAWC Act, violations against women and children in all aspects occur without let-up,” she pointed out.

“Launching the Philippine counterpart of One Billion Rising (OBR-Ph) aims to promote and protect the rights of women and come February 14, 2013, the 15th year anniversary of V-Day (the movement spearheaded by The Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler to raise awareness on VAW issues).

We call on Filipino women all over the world to ‘Strike, Dance and Rise’.”

Prior to that monumental gathering, OBR-PH will be organizing several lead-up events beginning with a Filipino performance of The Vagina Monologues mounted by Monique’s own New Voice Company.

For the next “16 Days of Activism” (beginning November 25), prominent women and human rights groups have likewise prepared a line-up of events that will culminate with the arrival of Ensler and a big dance event for the grand launch of One Billion Rising Philippines on December 24 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

For more information visit onebillionrising.org; Facebook: One Billion Rising Philippines or follow them on Twitter: @OBRPhilippines. For the New Voice Company call 896.6695/ and Gabriela at 371.2302