Teary eyed Linda, wife of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia went to Radyo Inquirer recently to seek the assistance of Bantay OCW. She said she could hardly eat or sleep. She had made a shocking discovery when she checked her husband’s Facebook page.
Linda said she could not believe what she saw: There were posts of her husband with another woman in his arms. It was a real struggle for her to even look at the photos, she related. It crossed her mind that she should have been that woman whose arms were clinging to her husband looking happy and contented.
Bantay OCW asked Linda if she knew of any reason her husband would turn his back on her. She admitted they often had fights. She said she was the jealous type. Their normal conversations would usually end up in shouting matches. She often charged her husband of cheating on her. So instead of updating each other on their separate lives, Linda’s husband would hang up the phone.
Her husband did not always call. He explained that he could not call when he was at work because his employer was very strict. Sending text messages during working hours was also not permitted. Linda accused him of spending his time with someone else and just using his work as an alibi. That issue escalated into enormous marital turbulence.
Since then, there were less and less calls from her husband. When she asked why he did not answer any of her calls and texts, he would reply: “Ayoko lang ng away.”
Despite that, Linda was still shocked when she saw the pictures on his social network page.
Linda and her husband do not have any children. Linda said she fears that if the other woman gets pregnant, her husband may leave her. That’s why she asked Bantay OCW for assistance to send the woman back to the Philippines so that she would leave her husband alone.
When asked why she wanted the woman sent back and not her husband, she answered that she did not want anyone else to benefit from her husband’s income. She wants her husband to stay there and continue working but to stop cheating on her.
We had to tell Linda that Bantay OCW does not have the power to summon anyone home. It’s not that simple. If overseas workers do not possess proper documents or if they do something illegal, they would have to answer to authorities and face immigration laws in that country.
Also, we cannot propose to an employer to end a contract and send a worker home because he or she is engaged in a relationship outside marriage. Employers could answer that it’s none of their business.
We advised Linda to have a heart-to-heart talk with her husband. They might still be able to resolve their issues.
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Susan Andes, aka Susan K. is on board at Radyo Inquirer 990 dzIQ AM,Monday to Friday 11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon & 12:30-2:00 p.m. with audio/video live streaming: www.dziq.am Studio: 2/F MRP Bldg., Mola St., cor. Pasong Tirad St., Makati City.E-mail: susankbantayocw@yahoo.com/bantayocwfoundation@yahoo.com