Helena Benitez

More Than a Woman “Oh, your parents opened the school to admit their firstborn so she didn’t have to fail.” This was the joke tossed to a young Helena Benitez when her parents, Conrado Benitez and Francisca Tirona-Benitez, together with some other far-sighted Filipino women, founded the Philippine Women’s University (then Philippine Women’s College) in 1919. As openly stated in her biographical book titled Mondays at Mira Nila, which is available in the Internet “to enable students, researchers and Internet surfers to easily access the materials,” Benitez was having problems passing her second grade, most especially because she was merely 4 years old then. Benitez wrote: “At the end of the second grade, I failed, because at that time the report cards were computed by average and my handiwork—my crafts—was really dismal. I don’t know how dismal it was, but it certainly brought all my grades down.” But forget the joke and the dismal experience of failing. Benitez has turned the tables and has proven her worth as top educator, claiming her place as the first Alumnae President of PWU and in 1980 becoming Chairperson of the University’s Board of Trustees. Fueled with the vision of making historic milestones in the line of education, specifically women’s education, Benitez has directed PWU to academic prominence. From its fervent beginnings of empowering women, the University has moved forward, through its many programs (like the PWU Night School, where mixed modules are offered under a trimestral program on all regular college course offerings), to “promoting the partnership between men and women in achieving a just and humane society.” Moreover, it is also through Benitez’s headship that PWU and its Affiliate Schools for Men and Women was able to lay the foundation for corporate entrepreneurial university, market-driven in partnership with business and industry, government and non-government groups. This thrust allows the maximization of technology, via hands-on experiences, for the upgrading of student competencies and skills. Surviving war and fire, PWU, from its Manila campus, has expanded to Quezon City, Caliraya, and Davao. It is a member institution of many academic synergies. Meanwhile, Benitez has been recipient to numerous citations and awards from many government and non-government entities for her contribution in education, women, environment and habitat, civic and church work and international affairs. “Though people may think I’m very lucky, I say that it’s not really luck. It is because I’ve tried to live by the Golden Rule,” said the ex-senator, who holds various degrees from PWU, George Washington University, the University of Chicago and Iowa State College. “I have been blessed this way because it pays to do right, as I have tried to serve God, country, and home.” For her seemingly deathless passion for education, which has progressed to a society-shaping entrepreneurial vehicle, the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship will be recognizing Benitez as one of Manila's Inspiring Entrepreneurs at the recently held Go Negosyo sa Manila last September 7, 2007 at the Philam Center for the Arts, UN Avenue, Manila. Spearheaded by Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III, this event is part of the ongoing Go Negosyo Caravan. Go Negosyo sa Manila is presented by Globe, PAGCOR, Hyundai, Islands Souvenirs and RFM Corporation. Other partners of the event include The Philippine Star, GMA Network Inc., RPN9, NBN4, Aspac-Law, Creativoices Production, Ideal Minds Corporation, and Full Circle Communications.