Women: juggling work, staying controlled

TAGUM CITY- They smile, wearing happy faces amidst juggling myriad responsibilities and yet they present themselves in public, elegantly.  Whether civilian or in uniform, women are actually handling more tasks than what the eyes can see.

The Women Edition of Tagum Biz Talk at Big 8 brought to the panel of guests empowered women. They came from the military, the police and the private sector but all of them  shared common  value for their family on top of their profession.

Twenty-five year gender equality advocate, Norma del Rosario Pereyras, chairperson of the Board of Directors of Tagum Cooperative has been into volunteerism for more than 30 years, after having gone through with the Banal na  Pag-aaral  which, she said, has made her volunteerism ventures God-centered.

She  recalled the days how she  and her husband started their family life and how she  finally came out to serve the church and the community through volunteerism. Despite her hectic schedule, she places value on family togetherness, observing spirituality in the family and giving quality  time for  the family.

She revealed spending Sundays with members of the her family,  taking time to bond  with each other especially  with her grandchildren. They also integrated prayer time  in their get-together because she said they believed that “the family that prays together, stays together”.

“Money is not everything; we value relationship to God and with each other,” she said.

Capt. Davy E. Siao, of  the G1 Office of  the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army has been involved in gender equality mainstreaming in 10th ID through conducting information drive and guiding women soldiers in their field operation.

Behind such tasks at work, Siao is two-month pregnant. She also has three and five years old kids. Home and household management usually fall on her hand especially during those months when her husband stays away home to serve the Special Action Force (SAF).

She brings her children to school and attends to their emotional needs among other necessities to rear them. She sometimes takes them along with her to her office at the 10th Infantry Division.

“Really, it’s a twenty-four, seven responsibility,” Siao said while confessing that her tasks as a mother and as soldier are not easy.  She, however, will stick with her profession  and  still be a mother because these give her fulfillment in life.

 Family, Juvenile and Gender and Development (FJGAD) chief of the Davao del Norte Provincial Police Office (DNPPO), Police Senior Inspector (PSI) Carol Blanco also shared similar experiences but her husband comes home weekly. Despite the short period of absence of her husband, Blanco confessed doing simple carpentry and masonry work at home.

Also guesting in that Women Edition of Biz Talk,  Tagum City Police chief investigator PSI Anjanette P. Tirador, a single woman, believed  in the  distinct  capabilities of women,  citing the tasks given by her supervisor.

She does multi-tasking as the information officer of Tagum City Police and as women’s and children’s desk officer while taking a hands-on job in crime case build-up and solution. These she does  aside from facing  threats to her life that crop up parallel to her effort to solve crimes.   (PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)