Nanay Gloria is returning to the Philippines after all.
A Filipina domestic helper whose return to Hong Kong was stalled after a bullet was found in her luggage at Ninoy Aquino International Airport is returning home to the Philippines after meeting with her former employer and receiving cash settlement as part of benefits she will receive for serving the family for extended period of time.
In a report by The Sun, Gloria Ortinez has returned to Manila via Philippine Airlines after working for her employer for the past 13 years despite an offer to employ her once again after she became a victim of ‘tanim bala’ scheme allegedly happening at the country’s premier airport.
Ortinez reached an agreement with her employer at the latter’s home in Kowloon after a heated exchange the previous day as she went to recover her belongings and ended in an emotional hug from her ward.
She earlier indicated willingness to return for the sake of the 15-year-old boy she took care since he was a baby.
“Kawawa yung bata. Matalino pa naman,” Ortinez said.
In a radio interview, Ortinez revealed that she has been working in Hong Kong for 27 years, helping send her daughters through nursing school and wanted to work a few more years to save up for her and her husband’s retirement years. Ortinez also noted that she felt safer to be in Hong Kong than in the Philippines, especially with the ordeal she just went through at NAIA. Shortly after the bullet was found in her luggage, Ortinez was detained three days and two nights at the airport police station and told by interrogators to confess the crime even when she had no legal counsel to seek advice from.
Ortinez arrived on Nov. 14 after being cleared by a Pasay City fiscal’s office related to the bullet found in her luggage. However, she learned that her employment was terminated since Oct. 25 after being told by Hong Kong Immigration upon her entry into the city.
It turned out that Ortinez’s employer has informed the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) about the termination but the latter failed to notify her immediately.
Nonetheless, Ortinez made the decision to go home for good.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng kapwa ko OFW around the world sa inyong mga prayer, tulong at support. Hindi lang para sa akin ito, para sa ating lahat,” Ortinez said at the airport.
She said it was the sympathy and support of the OFWs when they heard about her ordeal in the news that gave her the strength during the crisis and wished other overseas Filipino workers be spared from what she had gone through.
“Sana wala nang ibang OFW pa na makaranas ng nangyari sa akin. Mabuti na lang at nakatapos na ang dalawang anak ko,” Nanay Gloria said.