The sad side of Beneco’s anniv celebration

The flip sides of today’s (Oct. 8, 2021) 48th Beneco anniversary celebration are ruffled feelings besieged by the uncertainty of what will happen next.

But seeing our co-employees brashly don those black t shirts that say “empleyado ak lang,” we feel upbeat of how this story will turn later on.

Too bad we now have a house divided. Cases have been filed left and right and more are coming. And the Soc Med wars continue to spell and spill over bad blood depending on which side of the road one is.

Councilor Benny Bomogao texted this corner and asked if there’s a possibility for a ceasefire or compromise. We honestly replied the idea is very laudable but we admitted that the proposal appears remote as both camps have resolutely clung to their respective positions. Not when the issues are legal too, we added.

The past celebrations saw a united front. The directors were all prim in attendance. The DMs wore their best and the employees came to dine and wine. The last time, GM Verzosa sang his favorite on sing along - “My Way” with this corner in tow. GM Mel was his usual cool with a smile ready to share. The directors stuck to tradition -- Double Black and nothing more. The toast of the night though are the service awardees flanked by their guests and families.

Not now, we were told. The anniversary celebration will be off limits. We still have the pandemic and we wish to avoid a surge in Covid cases that downed close to 30 employees in the past few weeks.

There will still be sparks, of course, but the question as to how and when these troubles will end remain. Come hell or high water, however, the employees will not budge up. Mayor Magalong’s “why fix it when it ain’t broken” hit the nail on its head. Mayor Palangdan’s own “NEA, huwag na kayong makialam” and “enough is enough” are morale boosters. The words din into our confidence.

Well, who is the culprit anyway? At the risk of becoming boring, this Recloser repeats with a sting – it’s the NEA BOA. The NEA BOA perhaps thought that Beneco employees are simply fries in the pan. Nope. That’s a big mistake.

Yun lang, five of us leapfrogged to the other side. The pain of it is that two of them were my boys.

In the meantime, we really didn’t mean to spoil the fun for today’s service awardees.

Cheers.