Timor Leste has been in the news lately because their First Lady, Jacqueline Aquino Siapno, is from the Philippines. Not only that, when she came to visit the Philippines with her 5-year-old son, Hadomi, she decided to just take a bus home to Dagupan City, and a tricycle from the bus station to Barangay Bonuan Gueset.

The trip made the news, startling (and somewhat upsetting) her husband because of the security implications, but Siapno shrugged off the media frenzy, commenting that she?s a martial arts practitioner and can defend herself. Siapno?s husband is Fernando Lasama de Araujo, head of Timor Leste?s National Parliament.

Many of my friends have been even more charmed by the news coverage because it included a different kind of love story between our Filipina and her husband.

A quick detour here about surnames: Some of our newspapers have been calling her ?Mrs. Lasama,? a curious reflection of differences in newspaper policies. The Philippine Daily Inquirer prefers to call her by her maiden name, Siapno.

But why Lasama? Following Spanish and Portuguese tradition, a person?s name, like Fernando Lasama de Araujo, has the paternal surname, followed by the maternal, so he?s actually Lasama, not Araujo (oops, the Inquirer uses Araujo, maybe preferring the maternal name?).

We need more stories like this for our front pages because we do tend to get too conscious about status. Siapno shows how people can remain so simple and humble even when they reach high places. So, I thought I?d give even more space to this story, doing a recap of what?s been featured and taking this opportunity to talk about Timor Leste, also known as East Timor. We know far too little about our Southeast Asian neighbors and when it comes to Timor Leste, the reactions usually are, ?Where?s that country?? and ?Are they part of Asia??

The other Catholic country

I thought I?d talk about Timor Leste first to give the context for Siapno?s story. Timor Leste means East Timor, Timor being an island that?s part of the Malay archipelago, and therefore of Southeast Asia. West Timor is part of Indonesia while East Timor (Timur Timor in Indonesian) is independent.

Timor Leste was a Portuguese colony until 1975, which explains why they are predominantly Catholic and why they have Portugese surnames. With 97 percent of Timor Leste?s population being Catholic (compared to 81 percent in the Philippines), the Philippines can?t continue to keep claiming to be the only predominantly Catholic or Christian country in the region.

After Portugal had its Carnation Revolution (a kind of people power revolt) in 1974 and overthrew a right-wing dictatorship, its colonies intensified their calls for independence. In Timor Leste, the political party Fretilin led the independence movement and in 1975, they declared Timor Leste?s independence from Portugal.

Indonesia, ruled at that time by the dictator Suharto, responded by invading Timor Leste and occupying it. The United States, Australia and other Western powers accepted the Indonesian invasion because they were worried about Fretilin, which was seen as too Left-leaning. Timor Leste was, and still is, an important geopolitical force with petroleum resources, and with its proximity to an often volatile Indonesia.

Between 1975 and 1999, the Indonesian occupation resulted in political oppression, massive population dislocations and many deaths. Published estimates of deaths range from 60,000 to 200,000, figures made even more horrific when you consider that Timor Leste?s population is only about a million.

Fretilin continued to lead the struggle for independence, but also pursued diplomatic channels to get international pressure exerted on Indonesia. In 1996, Bishop Carlos Belo and Fretilin leader Jose Ramos-Horta were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

In 1999, the United Nations supervised a referendum in Timor Leste, with 79 percent of votes cast supporting independence, but this was rejected by pro-Indonesian militia. More violence erupted and it was not until 2002 when Timor Leste was able to declare an independent republic.

The political situation is still unstable though because of power struggles. In 2006 there were riots in the capital Dili and last year there was an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Doctor First Lady

Siapno is actually not officially the First Lady, the title attached to her because the incumbent president, Jose Ramos-Horta, is unmarried. (In Timor Leste, the president is head of state, a largely symbolic position, while the prime minister is the actual head of government.) Since Araujo is the second highest ranking official in Timor Leste, Siapno is First Lady.

I suspect Siapno wouldn?t care less about all this First Lady bit. Besides her bus trip, the media noticed how simply she dresses, without jewelry.

Anyway, back to our Pinay. I?m using information from the University of Melbourne, where her curriculum vitae appears because of her affiliation with their Asia Institute.

Siapno grew up in the Philippines but did part of her high school in the United States, moving on to Wellesley for her undergraduate work. She earned her master?s from the School of Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of London and her Ph.D. from the University of California in Berkeley. If we want to pursue this Filipino fixation with titles, she?s a Doctor First Lady.

I think newspapers should be talking more about her work. She has been a consultant with the United Nations Development Programme, Oxfam and other development agencies. The Inquirer did report that she was working with Amnesty International, an organization working for the release of political prisoners. Fernando Lasama was one of those political prisoners and Siapno, who was doing research in Indonesia, visited him in Jakarta, where he was serving a nine-year sentence for subversion.

Love blossomed and they kept in touch by correspondence. International pressure and Amnesty International do get results. Lasama was released in 1998 before finishing his sentence, and married Siapno in his home village in Timor Leste in 2001.

Beyond the First Lady title then, Siapno?s is quite accomplished. Her doctoral research in Indonesia produced a book, ?Gender, Islam, Nationalism and the State in Aceh.? She was also associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. She teaches at the Universidade da Paz in Dili.

I?m always telling my students that with all the Filipina nannies raising the children of the world, we?re quietly ?colonizing? the world. Don?t be surprised if a few years from now you have leaders of countries talking about their Filipina yaya, maybe even talking in English with an accent from yaya.

Siapno?s story reminds me that even now we already have Filipinos working in government, corporations, non-government organizations, making a difference for their adopted countries?and for the world.

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Email: mtan@inquirer.com.ph