Tears at NAIA as OFWs arrive, depart during the holidays



The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been a place for joy and sadness for OFWs, much more during Christmas time.
Though some OFWs will be arriving to spend the holiday season with their family in the Philippines, there are those who will depart and — some of them for the first time — will not spend Christmas with their loved ones.
Imelda Tubadeza, for one, will finally have the chance to spend Christmas and New Year with her family in the Philippines after 16 years of working abroad.
Though her blind mother could no longer see her, Tubadeza, in a report by GMA News' Bernadette Reyes on Balitanghali on Monday, said it is enough that she can serve her mother during the holidays.
"I want to spend this Christmas with my mom, to shower her, to clean her," she said.
For pasalubong, Tubadeza said she bought her mother chocolates, a wristwatch, and a lipstick.
"Sabi niya magli-lipstick pa raw [siya] kahit bulag na siya," Tubadeza said.
For some OFWs, their presence is their gift to their loved ones.
"Basta umuwi lang ako okay na 'yun sa kanila," said Andrea dela Cruz.
And then there are those whose deployment abroad coincided with the happiest month in the calendar. Melanie Tadeo, for one, will spend Christmas overseas for the first time.
"Mahal na mahal ko po silang lahat," she said in tears, referring to the parents that she will leave behind. "Wala naman po akong mahihiling basta wala lang silang sakit."
Although she's been spending Christmas away from home for 15 years, Feliciana Abalos could still not help but get emotional during her departure at the NAIA.
"Wala po akong magagawa dahil gusto ko pong mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang aking pamilya," she said.
She said she is praying that her family will remain whole despite her having to work abroad. —KBK, GMA News

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

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

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