For many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the promise of better wages and a brighter future drove them to leave home.
However, for those in Lebanon, the challenges extend far beyond the struggles of everyday life. With the escalating tensions in the region and the looming threat of an Israeli invasion, Filipino workers find themselves in an increasingly precarious situation.
Cristy, a 47-year-old domestic helper, has been in Beirut for 21 months. She left her home in Infanta, Quezon, hoping to create a better life for her children.
“I came here to be able to build a house and pay for the lot,” said Cristy in Filipino.
A former events coordinator, Cristy said she was convinced by a friend to join her in Beirut.
After a three-day journey on tourist visas, passing through Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, they finally arrived in Beirut to begin their new lives.
They got help from a Beirut-based agency which found them jobs and facilitated their work permits.
Cristy was assigned to an affluent family living on Verdun Street, a prominent commercial and residential area in the capital.
As soon as she settled down, the first thing she realized was that she wouldn’t be having a day-off. Her work starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m. She takes care of her employers’ young kids, cleans the house, and occasionally cooks.
Spartan meals
Her breakfast and dinner consist of “kubos,” Arabic bread, or noodles.
For lunch, she gets to eat a variety of dishes, mostly vegetables and a little chicken. Cristy said her weight dropped from 62 to 52 kilos.
At the time of the interview, she only had a boiled egg for dinner.
Except for the no day-off and spartan diet, Cristy said her employers have been treating her well.
They live in a 19-story building, each floor occupied by a single family.
“The buildings here all have windows, but everything is closed, the curtains are drawn. Before, they were open,” she narrated.
They rarely venture out nowadays. Cristy’s employers work from home and their children spend more time at home due to class suspensions.
Cristy is not allowed to go out alone; she is always accompanied by the family driver when she needs to buy something.
“I always read and watch the news,” she said. “I know there’s a Hezbollah camp nearby, protected by a high wall.”
She said it was difficult to identify a Hezbollah member. The group has become a significant political force in Lebanon, holding parliamentary seats and possessing the most powerful non-state military in the country.
“Hezbollah is respected here,” Cristy said. While she can hear them firing guns in celebration, the frequent loud explosions frighten her. She admits she fears for her life.
Cristy said she’s willing to pay her employers $800 to be able to leave three months before the end of her two-year contract. Her passport remains with her employer.
“My daughter will wire P27,000 tomorrow. Add my monthly salary for September, and I can hopefully go to the Philippine Embassy on 2 October,” said Cristy who earns $400 a month.
Cristy, however, is uncertain about what will happen to Lebanon after her employers bring her to the embassy.
‘I will be fine’
“As long as they bring me to the embassy, I will be fine. I will just wait for my repatriation,” she said, adding that she had made contact with the embassy.
Cristy said the friend she came to Lebanon with returned home last July following the death of her mother.
“She fought to be sent home. Fortunately, she was allowed to leave without paying $800,” she narrated.
Looking back, Cristy regretted leaving the Philippines. Two months into her contract, she said she wanted to go home.
Ten months later, Cristy lost her husband who left her for another woman.