The Manila Times

The hardworking women of Itogon

DEXTER A. SEE

ITOGON, Benguet: Hard labor is often associated with able-bodied men while women are often elevated to doing the lighter work for being the alleged weaker gender.

However, both Fineda Gonwigon, 60, and Natty Siyao, 43, who are members of the maintenance team of Itogon Suyoc Resources Inc. (ISRI), will not be selective in the work that will be assigned to them by their superiors because their main consideration is the income they can earn to help sustain their families in Sangilo, Poblacion.

These women mine site workers are part of a 20-man maintenance and construction team in charge of doing the hardwork to ensure the upkeep of the mine site.

Gonwigon has eight children, who are doing well with their respective families while Siyao has six children who also have their own families.

Both women had been with the company for more than eight years and had no plans of giving up their work or retiring from the company as long as they could still perform the tasks assigned to them.

Siyao pointed out that she prefers to work at the mine site rather than just stay home. Both Gonwigon and Siyao trace their roots to Lubo, Tanudan,and Kalinga, but they were born and raised within the mine site after their parents migrated to the municipality to look for greener pastures.

Before being part of ISRI’s socalled “road gang,” Gonwigon and Siyao were involved in rice farming, but their produce had been insufficient to sustain the needs of their growing families. Thus, they were forced to look for other sources of livelihood, leading them to accept the job offered by the company.

For Siyao, she claimed there is no difficult job as long as one values the importance of having a permanent source of income, especially when one is the breadwinner of a family like hers.

She pointed out that to survive the hardship of life, one must be willing to work in any available job to help in meeting the needs of their family.

They agreed that there is nothing wrong to be part of a male-dominated workforce because they can also do the same work that males do as the desire to have a sustainable source of income transcends issues on sex and age.

The two agreed on the idea that they might get sick and weak if they suddenly give up their work because doing the hardwork is what keeps them going.

Regions

en-ph

2023-01-24T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-24T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281741273545581

The Manila Times