OFW Puts Her Life In Danger

An OFW in Hong Kong Puts Her Life in Danger by Following Employer’s Task to Clean Window Panes from a High-Rise Building

Working as an OFW is not as easy as others may think it is.  In fact, sometimes, their lives were put in danger more particularly when they’ve found an employer as vain as this!

Elpie Leba, an OFW in Hong Kong shared on her Facebook account some pictures of a certain helper who was cleaning the window panes of a unit in Grand Garden Building located in South Bay.

The first photo may look like a usual scene of a person cleaning the windows but the next pictures are breath taking because the helper was already coming out of the window just to clean the other panels without a harness or a safety gear.

Considering the idea that what the helper was asked to do by her employer was very dangerous and life-threatening, Elpie said in her post that she will never do the same even if it will cost her to lose her job.

The said post has earned various comments from the netizens but mostly enraged by the fact that the employer of the helper was so inconsiderate for asking the helper to clean the windows without taking into consideration her safety as she was almost hanging on the window just to clean all the window panels.

Some of them even said that what she did was risky and the helper can report her abusive employer for being told to do so.

More over, the pictures which Elpie shared mirrors the lives of our OFWs which were unknown to many who think that working abroad made them live conveniently and luxuriously because they were earning dollars.

Truth of the matter is, it’s hard for them to earn money. And in the course of earning them, most of the OFWs doesn’t even care if their lives where put into risk for as long as they will get paid so they can send it to their families in the Philippines.

This is a sad reality that everyone should come to realize.

OFW Recieved Her Livelihood Kits From OWWA

OFW Received her Livelihood Kits from OWWA “Balik Pinas Balik Hanap Buhay Program”

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had recently launch their Program tagged as “Balik-Pinas Balik-Hanapbuhay”  as support to Overseas Filipino Workers who had decided to return to the country.

One of their recipient is Rosalina Casuga from Baguio City who had decided to leave Malaysia after working there for 6 months because according to her, the salary which was indicated in the contract which she signed was not implemented.

Ms. Rosalina B. Casuga from Upper San Carlos, Baguio City received livelihood starter kits/ grocery items for her sari-sari store business under the Balik Pinas Balik Hanapbuhay Program.
This program is a livelihood assistance intended to provide relief to returning member OFWs who were displaced from their jobs due to wars/political conflicts in host countries or were victims of illegal recruitment and/or human trafficking or other distressful situations.

She was thanking OWWA for extending assistance by funding a sari-sari store for her.

She received her starter kit livelihood assistance last June 2, 2017.

The Program aims to give support to the returning OFWs who  had been victims of illegal recruitment, abused by  employers, human trafficking and under distressful circumstances, displaced by hostilities or those that are trapped in war in the country where they work.

This is a good news for all OFWs.  This is a way of giving another hope for them whose faith did not turn out to be successful in a foreign land.

This is also one way of making their return to the country worthwhile so they don’t need to leave their families to work abroad.

Employer's Care Towards Helper

Netizens Feel Touched by Photos Showing Employer’s Care Towards Helper

A lot of heartbreaking stories have been written about employers who have maltreated their helpers and even killed them, at worse.  It’s a part of a sad reality that these OFWs leave their families to serve other people, yet they were treated unjustly and inconsiderably. However, it’s still nice to know that there are certain employers who are still kind-hearted as they treat their helpers as part of their family or even as a buddy, too.

This photo touched many netizens upon seeing a Chinese employer walking with the helper on her arms in Hong Kong, saying this was a very rare scenario.  Looking at the photo, we can discern that the employer was treating her helper well and that they are very comfortable with each other.

In fact, it was given as man’s nature that if one gets treated well, the other will reciprocate by becoming even much better.  By letting the people feel the concern of other people towards them, they will tend to become more productive and even more efficient.  In turn, they will also reciprocate their concern believing that a good deed begets a good deed, too.

Kudos to this Chinese employer who was able to change the negative thinking of some people towards foreign employers.  The world needs so much of employers like her whose heart goes to the OFWs seeking to feel like a member of the family that they serve while being apart with their own.

"Yes.....Not All Employers Around The Country's BAD".

Proud Filipino Risks His Own Life To Save Two Chinese

A Filipino Risks Own Life to Save Two Chinese Nationals in the Middle of Typhoon “Hato”

Filipinos are highly preferred by foreign employers for being known to be of good character, being hard working, industrious and diligent. This time, another Filipino proved that these qualities are innate characteristics of being a Filipino anywhere in the world.

Recently, typhoon “Hato” has hit Macau and Hong Kong where a lot of houses and properties were damaged brought by strong winds and heavy rains in its maximum category 10.

A TV news report has shown a ‘heroic’ deed from a Filipino who saved two Chinese nationals trapped in the middle of a flood with wooden debris floating in turbulent waters.

According to the report, Loreto, the husband of a certain Jhunnafe Mijares risked his life to save a Chinese who has been submerged in water struggling against water up to neck high.

Jhunnafe was able to film the incident as Loreto went on top of a stranded car and got the Chinese using a life buoy.

Chinese residents from the third floor of a nearby building helped Loreto by throwing some ropes which he later on used to remove the second Chinese citizen out of danger.

Kudos to this brave Filipino who risked his life just to be able to help others in times of need!

OFW Shares Story On Restoring Life After Disastrous Typhoon "Yolanda"

First OFW Business Loan Recipient Shares Story on Restoring Life After Disastrous Typhoon “Yolanda”

Reina Manzan is the first recipient of the OFW’s Business Loan Program by OWWA.  The former OFW who was working in Israel was very thankful for the 2-Billion OFW Reintegration Program or 2B ORP now known as the OFW Enterprises and Development Loan Program, since she and her family will get to start a livelihood after they had suffered a disastrous typhoon last 2013 hitting Western Visayas region which includes Iloilo, the place where they live.

Apparently, Reina, her husband, Ireneo and their two children were relocated from their house in Lemery, Iloilo to Hamtic, Antique before typhoon ‘Yolanda’ hit Western Visayas on November 8, 2013. Their home in Iloilo was among those houses which were ravaged and ruined.

Reina worked in Israel in 2007 and flew back to the Philippines after her employer died on 2011.

Luckily, Reina was able to put in some savings for being an OFW for 4 years and used a part of it to put up a motorcycle parts shop right in their own home. This helped their family start building their ‘dreams’ again after the trauma that typhoon Yolanda has brought.

The family’s motorcycle parts business had become successful since many residents in Antique were using motorcycles and tricycles as form of commuting and source of livelihood.  But though their business had been running smoothly, they applied for the 2B ORP from the Land Bank of the Philippines to expand their shop by adding more stocks and to venture into another business—a sari-sari store.

They were also able to purchase a banca which they used for fishing and thereafter, sell the fishes and seafoods to nearby towns and cities.

With her husband Ireneo, a former farmer.

Reina is happy to share that despite the trials that they had gone through, they were able to ‘rise’ again and was thankful to say that she never missed any payment for her loans.

“I never missed payment. I always pay back my loan on time,” Reina said.

As of this writing, the former OFW is organizing an OFW Family Circle group in Hamtic which according to her was one way of helping fellow OFWs to be more productive and responsible in managing their hard-earned money.

Sarah Balabagan Story

Do you still remember Sarah Balagan?

It was in the year 1994 when the story of an OFW named Sarah Balabagan spread around the globe when she stabbed her 67-year-old employer named Almas Mohammed Al-Baloushi 34 times for defending herself as her widow employer attempted to rape her.

Sarah was only 14 years old when she worked as a domestic helper in United Arab Emirates but her recruiter faked her age and declared that she was already 28.

Initially, Sarah was sentenced to death but only served a year behind bars along with 100 lashes and blood money amounting to 100 Million pesos which was paid as a donation by a Filipino businessman named William Gatchalian.

In 1996, Sarah came back to the Philippines with a hero’s welcome from her kababayans after she successfully settled her case in UAE.

Thirty years after, Sarah Balabagan-Sereno is now living happily and peacefully in Las Vegas with her husband and five children.

Sarah as a devout Christian and armed with a deep Christian faith is an advocate for fellows who were victims and survivors of human trafficking.

When asked how she felt by looking back at what happened to her, Sarah shared, “Not only I was fighting for my life, not only I am fighting for my honor as a woman, but I’m fighting for my family. At that moment, I need to survive.”

 “Napaka imprtante yung paninindigan mo, if you know its right fight for it. At wag kang matakot, God is with you,” she added.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BKkmBMMuHwc

A woman who has left her husband

Woman with her boyfriend

Filipinos who choose to make the ultimate sacrifice of leaving their loved ones behind just to earn a living are called Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Being an OFW is incredibly difficult as living far away from your loved ones takes a heavy toll on a person’s psyche.

This Man Her Husband

Married OFWs who live away from their spouses for prolonged periods of time are often subject to temptation. In many cases, an OFW will engage in an affair while away from home. This is mainly due to any number of factors such as loneliness, discontentment, homesickness, and many others.

Such was the case with this female OFW who was caught cheating on her husband.

The OFW shared the details of her infidelity through a Facebook post. In the post, one can clearly see that the woman looked very sweet with the man that she was with. She even captioned it “Paint My Love.” Suffice it to say, the man she was with was not her husband.

The OFW’s husband asked for Raffy Tulfo’s help to deal with his wife’s infidelity. In her defense, the cheating wife said that the man in the photo was just a friend and the caption came from the lyrics of a song which she claims meant nothing.