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| A quarantine facility in Bicol region, where returning OFWs are made to undergo 14 more days of isolation |
No fewer than a dozen Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong
have lost family members in recent months but have decided against going home
due to fear of being stuck in back-to-back quarantines in the Philippines
Since the Covid-19 contagion crept into the country, many OFWs
have heard about someone in the family dying – a parent, a sibling, a child – but
all they could do was weep helplessly as they knew the health protocols at home
would be difficult to hurdle.
Some of the bereaved workers poured out their grief on Facebook
in reaction to a report in The SUN on two sisters who went home on May 1 to be
with their dying mother but ended up stuck in a quarantine facility in Metro
Manila.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye! |
As of May 28, the day their story was published, they were still
waiting for their swab test results.
The sisters, who are both helpers in Hong
Kong , never got to see their mother until she was buried. If they
persist in going home to their province, they will have to undergo a second
14-day quarantine imposed by local officials.
Another Hong Kong-based migrant worker who recently lost a
loved one is Vicky R. Munar, an active community organizer of financial
literacy seminars for her fellow OFWs.
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She and her mother work for the same employer in Repulse Bay
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| Munar could only grieve from afar after her brother died in March |
“Masakit ang loob ko at umiyak din ako pero wala akong
magagawa. Umuwi ang mother ko at hanggang ngayon ay nandoon pa siya. Gusto ro
rin sana
She said that would have left her employers without a
helper.
Two of those who commented on The SUN’s post about the two
sisters, C. Aquino and S. Fang, said
they both lost their husbands in recent months but could not go home because of
the present situation.
“Masakit talaga mawalan ng minamahal sa buhay. Ako, asawa ko
ang namatay last month lang dahil sa Covid 19. Alam ko magiging risky kung uuwi
ako kaya ipinagpaliban ko na lang ang pag-uwi ng Pinas,” Aquino said.
Anyway, that was her husband’s advice before he died, she
said. He reportedly said he would understand if Aquino couldn’t go home due to
the situation. Hopefully, when the coronavirus crisis is over, she could go home
and visit his grave, she said.
Fang also said her husband died recently but she decided not
to go home to bury him.
“Alam ko masakit ng mawalan ng asawa pero sa kalagayan ngayon
wala tayong magagawa, kaya maiintindihan na tayo ng mga asawa natin,” Fang said.
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| About 24,000 OFWs were finally allowed to go home after spending up to two months in quarantine facilities in Metro Manila |
Many of the grieving OFWs lost an ageing parent. Among them
was Nena Caalim
Cube who commented that when her father died on May 1, she
chose not to go home as she wouldn’t have seen him anyway because of the quarantine
regulations.
She also worried about whether she would be able to return
to Hong Kong . “Kaya para makita ko siya, pina-video
ko na lang hanggang sa paglibing sa kanya,” she said.
One helper said losing a loved one at this time is the most
painful experience for OFWs. Even if they go home, quarantine rules won’t allow
them to be with their deceased family member one last time.
Evelyn Templo wrote
that her father suffered a stroke and was taken to the district hospital for
treatment. His health deteriorated after a patient in the hospital tested
positive for Covid-19.
She said the hospital eventually ordered all patients pulled
out as the emergency room had been exposed to the virus.
The family decided to take Templo’s father home to continue
his medication there, but he died shortly later.
“Napakasakit bilang anak na di na makita ang ama kahit sa
huling pagkakataon man lang...ganito kalupit si Covid-19...sana
Lilia
Pascasio and Erlinda Palacio said they each lost a brother, but
they decided not to fly home because of the quarantine.
“Huwag padalus-dalos sa pagdesisyon na umuwi... Iba ang
panahon ngayon. Timbangin ang bawat sitwasyon bago magdesisyon,” Palacio advised
her fellow OFWs.
L. Aureada said
her mother died last Sunday in hospital with only the frontline staff attending
to the elderly woman because her two siblings were not allowed to be by her
bedside. She said her mother was cremated as part of protocol.
Most of the workers who commented on the story asked why it takes
a month or more before the quarantined OFWs could get the results of their swab
test as well as their Covid-free certificates.
They compared the situation in Hong
Kong where the quarantine period is 14 days.
“Nakakasama ng loob. Tapos tayo pag nagpatupad sila ng batas
para gatasan ang OFW na pagkakakitaan nila, mabilis pa sa kidlat pagproseso
nila. Pero kahit pagbigay man lang ng kaluwagan sa mga OFW napakadamot nila,
sobrang kupad. Wala silang pakialam sa nararamdaman nating OFW,” commented Yzza P. Torres.
