Maita Gomez
Margarita "Maita" 'Favis Gomez' was a Filipino scholar, activist and beauty pageant titleholder.
In 1967 she won the Miss Philippines–World beauty pageant and went on to represent the country in the Miss World contest. She later became a political, economic, and women's rights advocate, and was active in the Makabayan political movement in the 1980s.
Early life
Maita was born in 1947 to Jose C. Gomez and Cecilia Favis Gomez, and was one of 7 children: Cita; Patty ; Ditas ; Joe; Naty ; and Migui.Miss Philippines 1967
She was crowned as Miss Philippines in 1967, and represented the Philippines in Miss World 1967.Advocacy work
Maita was well known for her political advocacy work. She fought for the liberation of Filipinas and worked hard to fix injustices faced by women. Her advocacy timeline began when she first joined the New People's Army in the 1970s to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship. She got arrested in Baguio in 1973, and escaped prison a few years later thanks to a military asset. She later rejoined the NPA 3 years later and remained until 1980 due to health problems. After resurfacing, she got placed under house arrest until 1984.After working in the underground, she founded the Metro Manila chapter of GABRIELA, and became the secretary-general of WOMB. Both were both organized a year after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. She also became a deputy director for the St. Scholastica’s College's Women Studies Program in 1985, helping in the drafting of its women's studies curriculum. Eventually, Marcos was overthrown in 1986.
Post-EDSA Revolution
After Marcos’ ouster, she went back to school. She finished her BS in Sociology at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila. She also worked as a manager in a private company. Later, she earned her MA in Development Economics at the UP School of Economics, at the University of the Philippines Diliman.She also co-founded the all-women political party KAIBA in 1986.
Maita was part of the National Council of SELDA, which pushed for the freedom of political prisoners. She had also worked with other national democratic organizations such as Makabayan and the IBON Foundation. In 2012, she helped form the Women Work Well Foundation, which worked to help women in the Philippines find well-paying jobs. She was also a fellow of Action for Economic Reforms, a think tank focusing on economic and fiscal policies. Her work in AER covered gender economics, and government policies on public-private partnerships and mining.