Jennifer Tomilas-Wagsayan has been tending her husband Renante, who met an accident in South Korea almost two years ago.
Renante suffered from a traumatic brain injury and never woke up since then. He was hit by a cargo truck. Worse, he was off-duty and his employer did not hand the family any financial assistance.
The truck driver also did not show up, but hospital bills and other expenses were shouldered by the truck's insurance.
Jennifer had to travel to Korea to look after her husband. They stayed at the hospital for a year, until they have used up the coverage of the insurance.
Jennifer was also a former worker in Hong Kong, but decided to come home to look after her children while Renante worked as a factory worker in Korea.
They dreamed of an improved life, better futures for their two girls. Unfortunately, destiny was not kind enough.
Jennifer said her husband, who has been in a coma since the January 7, 2007 accident, left his legal employer after working for two years without pay.
"He left and looked for other jobs in Korea. He was a TNT there," she said.
She currently tends a store, which helps her buy the medicines Renante needs. Jennifer said she spends P15,000 every 15 days for her husband.
"It's really difficult. My store could barely provide for my husband's needs. Yet I am still hoping he will wake up, or at least give me a sign he could hear me when am talking to him," she said.
The couple's first daughter, now in first year high school, is with Jennifer's sibling. "Pinag-aaral po nila yung anak ko," she cried.
Jennifer and Renante's story is just one of the several overseas Filipino workers' (OFW) unlucky tales.
Last Wednesday, Jennifer received P10,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), during the agency's OFW day held in Tuding, Itogon.
Livelihood packages and other assistance were also granted from kind sponsors. Apart from Jennifer's family, four other OFW families were given assistance that day, as part of Owwa's efforts of fulfilling the wishes of OFWs and their families.
It was the first time the Owwa helped an OFW family in Itogon, for the entire province of Benguet. The Owwa invited eight OFW families from each town.
Owwa Reginal Director Manuela Pena said the OFW day, which was started 10 years ago, is a form of thanking OFWs and their families.
Yearly, the Owwa taps medical group for medical missions, communication companies for free calls abroad and other agencies willing to help provide services for the OFWs' families.
Mayor Mario Godio, while expressing gratitude to the Owwa for the OFW day initiative, is hopeful that soon, employment would be available for very Filipino, to avoid migration, which he said, has been causing lots of social problems, including broken families, in the country.
"We hope that in the near future, there would be no more OFW day because there would be no more Filipinos going abroad to seek employment. If there would be Filipinos going overseas, we dream that they are going there only for vacations. We hope that soon, there would be sufficient job in the country for all Filipinos," Godio said.
