Article by:
Ernie Esconde
SAMAL, Bataan – A female overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who was maltreated in a Middle East country where she worked as a domestic helper, on Saturday thanked a party-list group and a local businessman for helping her safely go back home.
Marilou Santos, a resident of this town, tearfully recounted her ordeal in the foreign country and expressed gratitude to the Alliance for Community Transformation and Service (ACTS–OFW) and local businessman Alex Acuzar.
Acuzar is a mayoralty candidate running against reelectionist Mayor Aida Macalinao in this town.
Santos said she experienced maltreatment and abuse from different employers and was nearly sexually molested.
“Kung saan-saan ako napunta, sobrang hirap ang dinanas ko sa Middle East. Ang kontrata ko Dammam pero sa ibang lugar sa Saudi Arabia ako napunta (I went to different places. I experienced so much hardships in the Middle East. My contract was in Damman, but I got to another place in Saudi Arabia)," she said in an interview.
Santos said she was happy for having received help from the government, ACTS-OFW, and Acuzar.
“Nakauwi na ako at kasama ko na dalawang anak ko at pamilya. Wala na akong balak bumalik sa ibang bansa dahil sa Pilipinas kahit sobrang hirap kasama ko mga anak ko (I’m finally home to be with my two children and family. I no longer have any plan to work in another country because in the Philippines, even though it's financially hard, I am with my children),” she said.
Santos returned to the Philippines last February after working in Saudi Arabia starting October 2021. She is now selling fish caught by her husband.
ACTS-OFW first nominee Imee Enriquez said aside from welfare and protection for women, they are focused on a reintegration program in partnership with other agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“Bibigyan namin si Marilou ng tulong upang magkaroon ng permanent na kabuhayan para hindi na mangibang-bansa pero kailangan niya itong pagtrabahuan at magsikap. Pangarap ko na hindi na mangingibang bansa ang mga kababaihan upang magtrabaho (We will give assistance to Marilou so she would have permanent livelihood and not have to go abroad but she needs to work hard. It is my dream for women not have to go abroad in order to work),” Enriquez said.
Acuzar said he hoped that Samal will have a training center of its own that will help residents learn various skills, as well as a cooperative that will provide financial assistance to those who have trained and wish to establish a business.
Engr. Aldrin Cardenas, ACTS-OFW 3rd nominee, said they have also assisted 20 Filipino seafarers stranded in the Port of Odessa in Ukraine.
Enriquez, Cardenas, and other nominees and supporters of the party-list group campaigned in Samal and other parts of Bataan. (PNA)
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