The Women of BENECO

Well, they come in various forms.

They could be tellers, call center operators, secretaries, accountants, engineers and office staff. Nothing really extraordinary. But the mere fact that they are women make them special. Indeed, they are employees like me and sir Rocky, but the fact that they are on the distaff side also conjures the stuff they are really made of – as doting mothers, bread winners, loyal wives to their better halves and most importantly, the light of their homes.

These are the things that separate them from you and me, gentlemen. And the most we can do is to continue to give them respect and courtesy. They may report for work in the morning with a bad hair day due to their monthly visitor yet a welcome smile or a friendly greeting from us boys would be a respite. How I wish we could hug them every day to say hello. Come to think of it, we often see them as ordinary mortals like us, sometimes forgetting that they are our opposite sex. Forgive us ladies for the slip. But please do remind us with a healthy grin and a gentle voice in case we overlook you. To err on the side of gender is simply unforgivable.

I salute you though. You were with us in braving the pandemic. Remember that we all went to strategic places to man the rolling stores we erected at that time. We vividly recall also how you gamely proceeded to dispatch the linemen, receive inquiring clients, accept their payments and see those papers going from one office to another amid the uncertainty of what the corona virus would do next.

No one said I better stay home until this unseen enemy is gone. For you knew that our service was essential. Let the boutiques and beauty shops close. But not for us. You too held along. You too tagged along your might. No panic, no shivering, no tears. Though admittedly, with a degree of fear which is understandable.

In short, we didn’t feel you left us.

Make no mistake about it. The women of BENECO are worth their cent. There’s the soft spoken Crischelle who just minds her task at her cube but with dedication. There’s Beth whose laughter is electric, shaming Raffy’s wealth of a tummy. There’s Ruth whose eyes could disarm an irate walk in customer. There’s Rona who has to defy her size to see the SCADA. Olive, too, burns her butt to see to it that compliances are submitted on time. Mam Bren too just won’t miss the audit rules. And there’s Laarni, the tigress of Abra, who gave up her Sun Star days to count collections for the EC.

They are just some of the women of BENECO. The rest are equally caring yet gutsy. And all of them am sure are willing to bet their cards in the middle of a crisis, including standing side by side with the men in the fight for the choice of a GM.

I believe women’s month should not only be in March. Should be every month.

To BENECO’s 55 women, you make life in BENECO beautiful and inspiring.

Thanks for being there.