Filipina caregiver’s courage touches thousands of Israelis Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — “The morning of October 7th was a very dark hour for humanity. But amongst all the darkness, there is Camille’s story,” Emanuel Miller, a media analyst in Israel, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Camille Jesalva, 31, came to Israel from the Philippines five years ago. She takes care of Nitza, a 95-year-old woman in Kibbutz Nirim. Like their neighbors, the two woke up that morning to the sound of a heavy barrage of incoming rocket and mortar fire, and they sought cover in their bomb shelter. Shortly before 8 a.m. Jesalva began to hear people talking outside. Having previously worked in Dubai, she realized that these were not Israeli soldiers conversing in Hebrew, but Palestinians speaking in Arabic. She tried to close the bomb shelter window, but had no luck. Moments later, she found herself face to face with Hamas. Jesalva was supposed to fly out from Israel two days later in order to visit her son, and had in her purse 1,500 shekels (about $370), which she planned to give to her family. Without a second thought, she gave the terrorists her purse and said: “Take everything, just don’t take the flight ticket. She’s an old woman and doesn’t understand what’s happening. Take the money and go.” “Unbelievably, that’s exactly what happened. The terrorists took the money and went away,” Miller said. Jesalva then climbed into Nitza’s bed, hugging her to calm her down. She stayed at Nitza’s side for two and a half hours until the Israel Defense Forces arrived to save them. The Filipina cancelled her flight after she promised not to leave Nitza and could not bring herself to go. “The story has touched thousands of Israelis, who deeply appreciate the kindness and humanity of a person caught up in an awful situation that has little to do with them, yet decided to make the choice to act with true love,” Miller said, as he thanked Jesalva for protecting and not leaving Nitza. Four Filipinos died during the attack while two are still unaccounted for. The two Filipinos are believed to be among the hostages of Hamas. Support for Alacre Meanwhile, the Israeli government assured support to the family of Negrense caregiver Loreta Alacre of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, who was killed in the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. In his letter to the Alacre family, Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss expressed his government’s deepest sympathy to the siblings of Loreta and said, “you are now joining a big Israeli family of victims of terror.” “Joining this family entitles you with financial and other assistance, care of the government of Israel, in the same way they support the other bereaved Israeli families,” Fluss said. He said their embassy in Manila will assist the Alacre family in claiming benefits from the Israel Social Security Institute. The Israeli diplomat was also assisted by Rizza Moldes, officer in charge of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) - Western Visayas, in his meeting with the Alacre family. Loreta had been working as a caregiver in Haifa and Tel Aviv for 15 years. The Department of Social Welfare and Development, OWWA and the Department of Migrant Workers each extended P50,000 in financial assistance to Alacre’s family, as disclosed by Katherine Joy Malagad Lamprea, chief of the protective services division of the DWSD Field Office 6. Speaker Martin Romualdez also gave P500,000. The Department of Labor and Employment assured the dependents of Alacre of a livelihood package. The OWWA shouldered the funeral expenses of Alacre, whose remains lie at her home in Sitio Camay-an, Cadiz City. – Gilbert Bayoran

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more