Skip to main content

OFW from Malitbog, Bukidnon Owns a Carabao from OWWA’s Balik-Pinas Balik-Hanapbuhay Program




051A.jpg
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY --- Due to financial limitations as a single mother of two children, Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Alma Opus Caber decided to try her luck as a Household Service Worker in Kuwait yet unfortunately hasn’t finished contract after her employer’s alleged sexual harassment and maltreatment.

Before working abroad, OFW helped her parents’ farm in Malitbog, Bukidnon yet it was never enough to suffice even on their basic needs. She went downtown and worked in Cagayan de Oro City as a bakeshop packer however her relationship with his husband went sour and further complicated things. The children are under OFW Caber’s custody after they separated and that was when she finally decided to take risk, leave the children and make a living overseas. 

"Swerte-swerte gyud and paglarga abroad,” (When you go overseas, it’s definitely a matter of luck) OFW Caber insisted. Her presumptions and anticipations in working abroad to at least elevate their status of life flopped when her employer showed malicious intentions towards her. She immediately sought help from her foreign agency and was even transferred to a new one. However, the aggressive stalking of her previous male employer to the extent of confronting her present employers was definitely unacceptable. That scenario was against her values and principles and left with no choice but to ran-away and sought refuge at the Philippine Embassy and gladly repatriated back to the country after several negotiations from the Philippine government.

OFW Alma Opus Caber with her preferred livelihood starter kit from Balik-Pinas Balik-Hanapbuhay Reintegration Program.

Upon arrival, she went through stress-debriefing along with the other displaced and distressed OFWs who have unfinished contracts. Further, Department of Labor and Employment – Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration’s (DOLE-OWWA) offered her the reintegration program, Balik Pinas Balik-Hanapbuhay. She was one of the recipients of the livelihood assistance starter kits which she preferred a carabao for their family’s farm back in Malitbog, Bukidnon.         

Her piece of advice to those Filipinos aspiring to work abroad, “Ampo lang gyud sa Ginoo nga makalikay ta sa employer nga abusado…nga matagaan ta ug giya.” (Fervently pray to God that he’ll spare us from abusive employers…that we’ll be guided.)

At present, OFW never ceases hope despite previous unfortunate experience away from home. While she’s currently aspiring to go back abroad and try her luck the second time around, their new family member (carabao) is now helping them on their agricultural works in Malitbog, Bukidnon. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

Africa roads are world’s deadliest despite few cars ---- AFP

ADDIS ABABA: Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars. As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts. But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services. A recent World Health Organization report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the Internati
Read more