Home from a nightmare: 16 Filipinos from Israel, Gaza arrive
MANILA, Philippines —Caregiver Catherine Tolentino often woke up to a view of Gaza from her window in the apartment where she stayed with her employer, having no inkling things would take a drastic turn one morning, on Oct. 7. As Hamas militants launched coordinated air, land and sea attack on Israel, triggering a fierce retaliation by the Israelis and the declaration of war, the 47-year-old found herself hiding in a dark bomb shelter with her employer. They had no power, food or water. Forced to leave their hiding place in search of provisions days later, Tolentino stepped into a city in ruins, the skies ablaze from Israel’s bombardment and sirens wailing in the distance. Fearing she was wasting her last moments, she messaged her children: “I love you, please take care of yourself. I’m alright but my phone’s battery might suddenly die.” To her husband, she wrote: “I love you. Take care of yourself.” On Wednesday afternoon, Tolentino was back home, ready to reunite with her family, as she joined 15 other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on a repatriation flight arranged by the government. Speaking with reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, she said she was counting the hours until she saw her loved ones again in Lubao, Pampanga. Plea to stay Another OFW, Mayline Rivera, said she was grateful to be back home but a sense of despair nagged her on the flight to the country. She spoke of her sudden separation from her 90-year-old patient whom she had to leave behind in Tel Aviv. On the night of her departure, Rivera’s patient, who was battling dementia, had a lucid moment and pleaded with her not to leave Israel, she recalled. “I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again, but I hope I get a tourist visa soon so I can go there to thank her and her family for all their help,” she said. Rivera said she decided to be repatriated for her own mental health. The Department of Health earlier said the government would look after both the physical and mental well-being of the repatriates, should they have such concerns. Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega noted that most OFWs in Israel opted not to take the flight back to the Philippines since they were based far from the area of hostilities, mainly in Israel’s southern regions. Many of them have also developed a strong sense of
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