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In January of 2020, Maxie Villavicencio Pulliam went to her ancestral home in Taal, Batangas to help clean up the devastation from the Taal Volcano's eruption that month.

But as she swept up the debris, she learned about her great great grandmother, and an idea exploded. Pulliam went on to write Fierce Filipina.

"Being in Taal made me realize that the houses that Gliceria, my great great grandmother, had were converted into museums and her name is the main street. Also her monument, her statues were there. Being in Taal made me realize that children probably see her name all over the place but don't know what she did so during lockdown at the height of Covid, I took the time to do some research and put a book together with my three nieces who helped me out, and then hired a fabulous illustrator in Manila, Jill Arteche, and we finally got it out in the public," Pulliam shared.

The children's book tells the story of Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio, who is regarded as a national hero along with her husband Eulalio Villavicencio. They helped provide finances for Philippine Revolutionaries, even using their home to hold secret meetings with leaders such as Andres Bonifacio.

"I was able to see what she did, a lot of her connections to Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, and some other men who were in the revolution, and see how it connected to the larger picture of Philippine history. I wanted to ensure that this story came from the women perspective and really wanted to do anything I could and make it a source of inspiration given the height of hate crimes taking place right now."

Despite local monuments and preserved homes, Villavicencio is often referred to as a forgotten hero of the Revolution. Pulliam admitted she herself did not know about her ancestors' contributions.

"That's the problem. I don't think we look at them as being as prominent," she noted. "Definitely growing up in the States, I had no awareness of them and frankly I'm embarrassed to say this. I didn’t realize that my great great grandmother and her husband contributed to the Revolution to the point that they are considered heroes, and that helped me in my connection with the Philippines and people of the Philippines."

Over a hundred years later, Villavicencio's descendants have gone on to live lives of service. For Pulliam, who does social work with U.S. military veterans, learning about her ancestor's contributions to the Philippine Revolution inspired her even more. Along the same family tree is Pulliam's cousin Jon Hernandez who recently won a Super Bowl as the Los Angeles Rams' physical therapist.

"It's within our family’s nature to always take care of others and I believe it is in our DNA to do whatever we can to live a life of excellence and ensure our daily actions and our daily human to human actions are always in service of others. I do think that was passed down to us from our ancestors," Pulliam said.

Fierce Filipina, along with some merchandise, is available online and will soon be released digitally. With every copy that makes its way into readers’ hands, Pulliam is confident that the story of her great great grandmother’s heroism will live on.