Iron Lady, Part One

Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal was many things.

She was a revolutionary, having founded the 'Second Katipunan' alongside her father, Gregorio, and her husband, Manuel Rizal*. She was a fighter, as shown in countless actions against the exploitative semi-feudal landowners who were reeling from the Americans' sudden weakening and withdrawal. She was a diplomat, having persuaded Japan to focus on the disorder in China and China to focus on Japan's ambitions instead of the 'temporary' weakness of the Philippines. She was also an unlikely leader; when her father - the great Gregorio Aglipay - was killed in action, Priscilla had led the Second Katipunan alongside her husband before he was killed as well.

Now, however, all of that was foreshadowed by the fact that once the Americans had withdrawn to focus on their Second Civil War, and the remaining landowners had been forced to toe the line or be driven out, she ruled.

The strongest woman in the Philippines, she nevertheless insisted on holding free and fair elections to legitimize her rule and her taking on the titile of 'Lady President', after which she chose to abandon Malacanang Palace, the traditional seat of power in Manila, and instead chose to live in a relatively modest house in the walled city of Intramuros. And it is in that house where the New Philippines arose, a Philippines of smallholder farmers, networks of worker-owned businesses, and a few state-owned corporations. After that came the manufacturing of consumer goods through cottage industry and the generation of electricity from human waste and excess farm products. True, her Philippines was not as rich and prosperous as the other nations, nor as 'competitive' in economic terms, but they got by and even thrived in their own way.

But it wasn't enough. As Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal showed her hospitality by serving tea and pastries to the delegates at the meeting she was holding in her modest home, before taking her seat, she smiled and said:

"Greetings; if you all will forgive me for such humble but unbecoming behavior of a Head of State, we can now begin discussing the destruction of our Monopolist oppressors. I hope you would also enjoy the cakes? They are a local recepie," Wham.

Lady Trung of Vietnam was well-acquainted with Priscilla's...quirks, and smiled, saying warmly, "You do not have to remind us that you are a wife and mother to all, not just your nation. That said, perhaps your child can have a few bootleg Mosin-Nagants* for the fight against 'Emperor Bao Dai'? Those would be quite heavenly."

Priscilla returned the warmth with a nod, "A few thousand have already been manufactured by the Association of Small Arms Manufacturers in the country. You have to arrange for their transport, of course, as well as the food, the medicines, and the Molotov-level liquor that both tastes good and burns well." Translation: We have them and will give them, but you have to learn how to arrange for their smuggling yourself.

Ahmad Hussein, from Java, smiled indulgently at that before attempting a harder bargain. "The People of Indonesia all hate the ruling regime, but the majority are...wary about the Anti-Monopolist roots of your movement. The rich merchants and landowners and other supporters of the Junta would fight to the death if the alternative is to lose their stolen wealth. Basically, they have the money, and without it, the Junta cannot be overthrown, or would merely be replaced by people who are little different."

The plea for money inwardly annoyed Prisicilla, but there was a foundation of truth behind this behavior; she was woman enough to acknowledge it. Looking pointedly at Ahmad, the lady said; "You are in luck; the Association of Gold Miners has discovered a new lode, and can lend you a kilogram or two of fine, pure gold dust. Of course, arrangements for transport and concealment have to be made by you."

A sound of a throat clearing; Anthony Walter Dyrell Brooke, former ruler of Sarawak until the British had made the region a direct colony, wanted all eyes focused on him. The ex-royal, whose genuine empathy to the Malay people his dynasty had went native for had pushed him into collaboration with his 'social inferiors', then spoke, "We have willing men. We have our own arms and money aplenty. We have supplies and sympathizers. But Sarawak will never be free if Britian is not openly defied, and that you cannot do yet. So I must ask you, Lady President of the Philippines; how goes China? How goes Japan? How goes the need to forge an alliance to cleanse the region of swindlers and oppressors and false empires?"

Priscilla smiled at this near-defiance, and said, "Why, my ambassadors are already on their way. Raul and Orlando are heading to the Chinese and Japanese; the ball is in the latter's court now."

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin%E2%80%93N…