DUBAI: A 56-year-old single mom, who left for work in Dubai 34 years ago when she was 22, is now home for good, ageing and broke, with the only consolation being she is with her three sons elated that they will finally be spending Christmas with her, not minding if she’s penniless.
Liberty Perona Alvarez said she plans to open a start-up and is hoping the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) would act on her pending application for financial assistant through the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
“Sa ngayon, nag-uumpisa ulit ako dito sa Pilipinas kasama ng mga anak ko,” said Alvarez, who was widowed in 2012 after her husband, Cresilito Alvarez, an electronics engineer she met in Dubai, passed on due to cardiac arrest at age 39.
“Ngayong Christmas at New Year, magkakasama kaming mag-iina. Ang saya nga nila kasi nandito na ako sa tabi nila. Pero laban pa rin, kasi wala akong work. Maghahanap ng paraan para kumita,” Alvarez added, referring to Christian, 21; Prince,18; and Samuel 12.
“Naglakihan sila nang di ko nakita birthday o graduation,” she said.
Christian has finished a two-year course; Prince is in first year of college; and Samuel in seventh grade, Alvarez said.
Start-up through AKAP
Alvarez, whose plane ticket home was shouldered by relatives, said she’ll try her luck at opening a small business.
“Mag-open ng ukay-ukay (pre-loved clothing) store. Pero wala pang budget kasi umuwi ako nang walang pera kahit sahod sa dati ko pinagtrabahuhan. Pagod at gutom inabot ko. Walang nangyari. Walang sweldo. Puro pangako lang,” she said.
Alvarez said she has applied online for AKAP assistance.
“Pero no reply,” she said. “Wala kahit e-mail. Baka mag-apply ako uli sa DOLE region III, kaso parang malabo pa.”
“Sana kahit papaano makakuha ako ng tulong sa AKAP ng DOLE para may pang-puhunan at masuportahan ko ang mga anak ko. Malaking tulong ‘yun para madagdagan paninda ko. Pandagdag kita araw-araw,” Alvarez said.
“Inshallah (Arabic for “God willing”), may plano ang Diyos. Sana makaya ko pa, kasi 56 na ako,” Alvarez said.
The AKAP program provides for a P10,000 financial assistance.
Domestic helper
Alvarez, who finished a junior secretarial course, worked as domestic help from 1986 to 1991. She then got a job as saleslady for seven years and as sales representative later on.
“Imagine? Since 1986, nasa UAE na ako. Pero di ako pinalad umasenso kahit anong sikap ko. Siguro di para sa’kin ang Dubai. Hindi ako sinuwerte,” she said.
Alvarez and her sons live in her mother’s house. “Wala kaming sariling bahay. Walang na-ipon kasi mga nag-aaral mga bata at maliit lang ang sweldo ko,” she said.
It has been sort of an unwritten law for most OFWs to save up for a real property while working abroad to have something for retirement.
Visit visa
Alvarez said she was on visit visa from late 2018, following termination from work, till the time she went home in August this year.
“Hindi pinalad na magkaroon ng employment visa dahil bawat mapasukan ko, puro pangako na bi-visa-han, till ma-expired visit visa. Kaya exit uli para makapag-renew ng panibagong visit visa,” Alvarez said, narrating how this cycle went on and on.
“Pa-exit-exit lang kasi sabi ng company na napasukan ko, i-arrange nila, kaso may problema daw sila sa Labor kaya di makapag-employment visa. Delayed pa salary at di naibigay ng buo, kaya hanap uli ng iba. Tapos ganun din. Nangakong magbi-visa pero wala din, so exit na naman,” she said.
In all, Alvarez said she did five visa runs, or exits, to renew her visit visa, each of which has a three-month duration. She could have gone home earlier had it not for flight suspensions from around March to June due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Daily Bread 