By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Merly spent more than half of her life in Hong Kong, a city she loved |
She may not have won any award, or received public plaudits
for her many acts of generosity and kindness toward people she hardly knew, but
Merly T. Bunda’s passing early on Monday, Jan 18, was met with grief by many in the Filipino community
in Hong Kong.
Merly, who was single, succumbed to late-stage cancer of the uterus at Pamela Youde Nethersole
Eastern Hospital,
where she was confined after being diagnosed with the terminal ailment only five months earlier. She spent her 54th birthday there last Dec. 17.
Within that short period of time, the cancer relentlessly ravaged
her body, but she valiantly fought on, never once giving in to suggestions that
she should perhaps just go home and spend the rest of her days there.
As a trained midwife, she knew the dangers she faced each
time she was made to undergo medical procedures, but she never wavered. She firmly
acceded to everything that her doctors suggested, even to the final, dangerous
one that her greatly weakened body was not able to withstand.
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| Merly was visited by friends when she marked her 54th birthday in hospital |
People who knew Merly would know that she was being true to
form that way. The pretty, delicate-looking Ilongga was known for being gregarious
and soft-hearted, but she was also feisty and hard-nosed.
For the most part of her 30 years of stay in Hong Kong, she made it her business to know what was
going on in the community. But it was never because she was prone to gossip;
she did it because she was genuinely interested in people, and would offer help
whenever she could, even if it meant sharing a big chunk of her hard-earned
salary.
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| Merly (in white) with her SUN family |
At The SUN, where she was a regular contributor for the past decade or so, she was the one we all would ask if there was any
story or a social media post we wanted to get more information about. She never
failed to deliver.
But fellow contributor Marites Palma remembers Merly more
for her kind heart.
“Nag ho hospital visit
po siya nun. Marami siyang sinasamahan na mga may problema, lalo na yung mga
may nakasanlang passport, mga OS (overstayers) dito. Minsan nauubos ang pera
niya sa pagbibigay tulong sa mga na teterminate na tinutulungan niya,” says
Marites.
(She used to do hospital visits, she helped many migrants who
had problems, especially those who had pawned their passports to get loans, as
well as those who had overstayed their visa. Sometimes she’d use up her money
giving help to those whose contracts had been terminated).
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| Merly with members of 'From a Distance,' a self-help group for OFWs she founded |
This was the same sentiment shared by her fellow Ilongga,
Erma Geolamin, who introduced Merly to The SUN. Erma, who has moved back to
Iloilo to retire, remembers fondly the many times she and Merly would team up,
not just to gather stories about troubled migrants, but also to focus on issues
that had long plagued the community, like gambling.
Erma recalls Merly giving her tips about how much money was
changing hands among migrants who played cards the whole day at a known Ilonggo
haunt in Central so she could write about it. When Erma became a target of the
gamblers’ ire, Merly immediately told her to stay away while she secretly did
the digging up for her.
It was also Erma who Merly teamed up with in extending help to
an overstaying migrant worker who became so popular from their stories that she
was soon hailed as the “honest OFW” who returned cash she found in the trash,
worth the equivalent of Php1million.
The truth about her finding only worthless crossed cheques
came to light after Merly doggedly worked with The SUN in unraveling the stupendous
claim.
It was not the only time Merly was betrayed by a fellow
worker she had helped selflessly, but true to her good nature, she rarely, if
ever, held a grudge against anyone, much less spoken ill of others.
As a worker, Merly was well loved by her employers and their
families. She worked 15 years for one family, and more than 10 for another. The
last one she was particularly attached to, especially to the two children she
helped raise from when they were babies.
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| One of Merly's cherished photos was this one where she's seen reporting for Bombo Radyo |
Merly first got the writing bug after being asked to become Hong
Kong correspondent for Bombo Radyo in the Philippines at the time of the SARS
outbreak here in 2003.
Her booming voice had become so recognizable to people in her
Iloilo hometown
that many often got surprised on seeing how frail she looked in person.
“When they meet me in the market, they say ‘how does such a
small person have such a big voice,” said Merly in an interview.
That dedicated following prodded Merly to widen her circle
that in no time, there was hardly any event or story that escaped her reach. Her
Facebook account which she used to report incidents or post cryptic comments, was
widely followed, even if she wrote mostly in Ilonggo.
Her passing leaves a big void in the community, for she was
kind and generous, as she was exuberant. There are not a lot of people like her.
*Merly’s remains will be flown home to Dingle, Iloilo, in accordance with her family’s
wishes. Details of the funeral services will be announced later.
