By Bryan R. Realgo, Correspondent

"I am a lesbian, but I still identify myself as a woman." 

In her polo, jeans and sneakers, she walks with a steady gait, no hip swaying. She talks to you, directly to the eye, with firmness in her voice, and engages you in a fist bump. No unnecessary drama. No glitters. No high heels. But, she is a woman. 

She is Ciela Marie Pacopia, a political science instructor of the Department of Social Sciences at the College of Arts and Sciences. More popularly known as Ma’am CM, she proves that, like the LGBTQ spectrum where identities could never be contained, work opportunities could also be limitless when one boldly breaks free of the box.

If she is to write her story, there may only be a few accomplishments that she could scribble about. But, what she is proud of is that she was able to stand out at work that is commonly identified as a "man's world." 

Shortly after finishing a bachelor's degree in political science from the University in Northern Philippines, CM was employed at the Department of National Defense as a civil defense officer. At some point, she experienced not being chosen over men. 

"I observed that they prefer deploying male over female employees, especially when I was assigned to a bureau in-charge of risk disaster management. I felt that our bosses thought men could be more easily employed because women are seen as not too keen in action work," CM narrated. 

However, she was not discouraged and worked hard to perform well until she was regularized. 

At that point, she was already taking her master's degree in the University of Santo Tomas while doing her job at DND. 

"I had to prove that I deserved the spot."

Since then, she started to be an alternate representative in some of the country’s civil defense affairs, particularly on nuclear and biological emergencies which are more commonly assigned to male personnel. 

"I was very proud of myself when I experienced participating in an ASEAN regional forum - a woman in a male-dominated event," she added. 

While she found her work in DND fulfilling – having monitored the Marawi Siege in 2017 and the onslaught of several typhoons in 2018 – she, at some point, realized that she has another calling. 

"My true love is really teaching," she said. 

After leaving DND, CM taught for a while in a private university in Metro Manila, and, in 2020, she decided to come here at the Mariano Marcos State University. 

"At some point, I felt that I really needed to come home to serve my community, the Ilokano community." 

She is from Bangued, Abra. 

She added that she finds fulfilment in serving state university students because she does service for the country. 

“The concept of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ has nothing to do with becoming an efficient teacher,” she quipped, but what is challenging, according to her, is when students call her "sir." 

"I tell my students that my pronoun is "she," and that they should call me ‘ma'am’ and not ‘sir’."

CM believes that, in the present society where gender constructs are dynamically established, it is important that one openly tells his or her preference. 

According to her, she still prefers to be called a woman as a sign of respect to her parents -- following their teaching. 

"They did their best to understand who I am because I am the only one in the family who is a part of the LGBTQ community. I could say that I remain grounded with their teachings; that is why I still prefer to be called a woman regardless of my sexual attraction and expression as a man."

"Coming out from a judgemental society not exposed to this idea, I am thankful that here in MMSU, members of the community are really sensitive about my preference, and I am comfortable here showing who I really am."

For CM, she now has the freedom to express who she is. After all the hiding, she has already emerged as her truth.

Now, she is happy to see how our society is evolving to accept the many gender preferences, “where everyone enjoys freedom.” 

As a woman, her greatest achievement is that she could survive and express her freedom regardless of her preference. If she has to question the concept of a "man's world," this is what she has to say.

"Everybody should be able to survive in a kind of life where nobody is left behind, where everyone is part of development. We should question the things that were normalized. Let us shake things up - to reclaim the concept that is no longer fitting to this time." (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)

*CM Pacopia, 28 is an Instructor at Mariano Marcos State University. She obtained her BA Political Science at UNP and her MA Political Science at UST.