“May dalang kahon o nasa loob ng kahon” – It is said that these are the only options of a returning Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). It’s either you have a balikbayan box full of ‘pasalubong’ for you family in the Philippines or you will be inside the box, lifeless, after passing away while working abroad.
It sounds tragic but this is the real situation that every OFW has to face. In a Facebook post, Chie Umandap, chairman of AKO OFW, shared live footage of three OFWs who returned to the Philippines already inside the box.
One OFW died after suffering from a heart attack while the other two encountered a tragic road accident. They were received by their families who couldn’t believe that they will ever see their loved ones returning to the Philippines in that state.
The AKO OFW helped repatriate the remains of these OFWs through the effort of the Philippine Embassies in Kuwait and Qatar.
This should serve as a reminder to all families of OFWs to spend the remittance very wisely because every money that OFWs earn is from their sweat and blood.
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