CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA ) -- “When somebody says thank you, when somebody says you are an angel, and then hugs you, I experienced that several times. Lami sa imong feeling (it’s a great feeling)," said Valentine Viajar-Aunzo, manager of the Social Security System (SSS) Cagayan de Oro Lapasan branch, during the Talakayan sa PIA, added that not everyone is given the opportunity to serve.

Aunzo, the eldest of the girls in a brood of nine, considered herself shy and reserved. “I said to myself, I would not apply to any government office because of my impression nga grabe ang [of the extreme] bureaucracy and red tape,” she said.

“But destiny is not planned by us or planned by any person,” Aunzo shared when she recalled what brought her to SSS and believed it was God's plan.

Aunzo really planned her career path. Considered an ideal student, when she graduated, she looked for a job that would give a good salary, entered a master's degree program at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, and landed another financial analyst position in a subsidiary of the Landbank, a private entity.

But one summer vacation, Aunzo’s father became ill, which prompted her to pivot. Taking care of her father became a priority. She resigned from her work over the phone.

“I looked up to him as a paragon, a paragon of excellence. He was a lawyer,” she said.

Without hesitation, she looked for a job nearest to their place—in fact, within walking distance from their home—crossing the street, and alas, she found SSS.

“I applied because my priority was to take care of my father; in case of an emergency, I could just get home and rush him to the hospital,” she said.

She entered as a clerk, a relatively low salary compared to her previous job, but she accepted it because she really wanted to be with her father.

"You can dream as much as you can, but it’s all God’s plan," she said. 

“I could have applied for another job, but I realized that in SSS, as a government office, because I did not have any idea yet what SSS is all about, but when I got into that office, I realized it’s all about public service. That is why I got to love it; then I embraced the corporate culture, and then the rest is history. I stayed with it until now,” Aunzo shared.

As time went on, Aunzo learned to love stress as it is a packaged deal with the job, any job.

“You have to embrace it, kay naa man siya [because it is there]; otherwise, you will not be motivated to do better or to do more. Without inspiration, you won't be motivated to accomplish more. It’s part of your job to have that stress,” she shared.

SSS really espouses gender equality; Aunzo shared in the Mindanao operations group, more or less 50% of the branches are led or headed by women.

Just do your job and make the best of it, Aunzo said. 

Competency in decision-making and good communication skills are the attributes anyone should have to become a leader, plus empathy, she said. 

“As a woman, I have to, because it's innate in us: empathy and compassion. But as a person, I know that I need to; I have to have that resilience, the toughness that, despite the challenges, you can get up and go on,” she shared.

Emotion is strength.

It’s not a weakness, said Aunzo, but rather a strength, because if you feel that, you are inspired to do something for the good of all. That’s being strong.

Women can care more about an organization. They are very good at organization, organizing things, and multitasking. In fact, in the SSS CDO Lapasan branch, out of 21 personnel, four are only men, so it’s women's power, Aunzo shared. (JMOR/PIA-10)