A mother’s love and sacrifice in the face of enhanced community quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — A mother’s love is eternal—nothing in this world or beyond could make that cease.

But in dire situations when a job is no longer just fulfilling responsibilities but a mission to serve, there comes a time when a mother makes a difficult decision.

All our heroic frontliners face this situation in the war against COVID-19. They rise to the occasion, risking their lives to remain committed to the people. They could be medical workers exposed to the disease while caring for patients, soldiers or cops providing security, or service personnel—grocery clerks, pharmacists, garbage collectors—seeing to it that everyone’s essential needs are met.

For a mother who chose to come to work to address customer complaints and resolve internet connection issues during the crisis, not being able to attend her daughter’s 18th birthday was heartbreaking.

“Maraming ng events sa buhay niya that I missed. Pero important kasi itong 18th birthday niya, kaya nagkaiyakan kami," said Rosemarie Tirones, a customer care team leader for PLDT, serving the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

(There are a lot of events in my daughter’s life that I already missed. But her 18th birthday had been the most important. We both cried when I missed it.)

Rosemarie chose to stay in PLDT’s Sampaloc Exchange facility during the course of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) as a frontliner to fulfill service tickets for immediate resolution of connection problems or to dispatch field personnel.

“Sa lahat ng birthdays niya, andoon ako at gumigising sa kanya sa umaga. Naiiyak ako kasi hindi naman ako perfect mother dahil working mom ako at marami akong namimiss na mga important events ng anak ko. Pero I see to it na every birthday ng mga anak ko, nandoon ako," she tearfully recounted.

(This makes my cry because I know that I’m not a perfect mother. I tend to miss a lot of my daughter’s important events because of my work. But I see to it that I’m present in all her birthdays.)

“First birthday ito na na-miss out ko," she added. (This is the first birthday of my daughter that I missed)

Rosemarie had actually planned a dream vacation with the whole family to Korea to celebrate, but with COVID-19 spreading rapidly, they had to forego.

With accumulating workload, she knew she had to make that painful decision. At first, she was considering other options, such as work from home. But two hours before the lockdown, Rosemarie made the noble choice. She made the sacrifice to answer the needs of people affected by the crisis.

Apart from genuine concern for customers saddled with connection problems at a time when access and communications are critical, Rosemarie’s dedication to her work lies in her deep gratitude to the company that has been behind her through trying times in the last 25 years.

“Kapag sinabi ni PLDT na stay or extend pa, I will stay out of gratefulness kahit walang compensation. Nadugtungan ni PLDT ng 10 years ang buhay ko because of the healthcare benefits ko as an employee,” stressed Rosemarie. “Diabetic ako. PLDT supported me through my medicines all these years.”

(If PLDT would ask me to extend my stay in here, I will stay out of gratefulness even if we’re not compensated. PLDT added 10 years to my life through our employee healthcare benefits. I’m diabetic and PLDT supported me through my medicines all these years.)

As the crisis wears on, employees holed up at the Sampaloc Exchange would have their basic needs satisfied—from their three full meals, free of charge, to comfortable sleeping quarters, including a provision for laundry and worship services, such as live-streamed masses from Quiapo Church. But for Rosemarie, interacting with family, especially her daughter, was the most important.

“Wala ka talagang hahanapin dito. Namimiss namin families namin but we make sure na makita sila every night through video call. Iba talaga si PLDT. Ang lokohan namin dito ng mga kasama ko, para na lang kaming nag-abroad,” she laughingly noted.

(Everything is complete in here. Though we miss our families, we make sure to connect with them through video calls. PLDT treats us very well. It’s only as if we are just working abroad during this lock-in.)

Amidst the current crisis, Rosemarie is confident Filipinos will soon overcome this ordeal.

“Very resilient ang mga Pilipino. Sana bumaba na yung cases ng COVID-19. Sa tingin ko makakaraos tayo, alam mo naman ang Pilipino, kapag nadapa ay babangon ulit," she said.

(Filipinos are very resilient. I really hope that the cases of COVID-19 would be less. I think we’ll be able to get through this together. Us Filipinos, we may stumble but we shall rise again)

Rosemarie’s story is just one of the many heartwarming tales of PLDT Heroes who are serving as telecom frontliners during the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon. Be inspired and read more of the PLDT Heroes stories at www.pldthome.com.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.