Flight cancellations and delays from Lebanon to the Philippines have left many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deeply concerned, as the escalating violence makes returning home increasingly urgent.
Among them is 46-year-old Cici Brinces, who is filled with anxiety about what lies ahead. She has spent 16 years working as a domestic helper in Lebanon, where she built a life with her Palestinian-Lebanese husband and their 10-year-old son.
The explosion that recently tore through Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, has ruined her father-in-law’s home — where she and her son have been staying.
“I just want to go home, I can’t endure this any longer,” Brinces said.
Brinces had applied for repatriation two months ago and was originally scheduled to fly back to the Philippines on Wednesday, 23 October.
However, her flight has been postponed multiple times, first to 24 October, and then again to the 25th of the month.
For nearly a month now, Brinces, her son, and her father-in-law have been living out of their car, roaming the streets of Dahieh, desperately seeking food from donation points.
Scrounging for food
“We just drive around, wherever there’s food, that’s where we go. What they give us is hardly edible, but I have no choice but to stomach it,” she shared.
As if the emotional toll wasn’t enough, Brinces face the additional challenge of losing nearly everything when their home is destroyed.
She was unable to retrieve any of her belongings — not even her clothes or savings. Even more distressing, Brinces is a recent leukemia survivor and is still undergoing treatment.
“I’m still injecting medication three times a week for my leukemia,” she revealed. “But I couldn’t save my medicines either.”
Although the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon has urged her to take refuge in a government-provided shelter, Brinces remains on the streets, bound by a choice to make: her father-in-law refuses to let her son join her in the shelter due to cultural and religious concerns.
“My father-in-law won’t allow my son to stay at the shelter because he’s afraid they’ll feed him pork,” she explained.
“I’m scared they’ll change their minds and not let my son leave with me, so I just stay with them.”
On Sunday, 20 October, the latest group of repatriates from Lebanon arrived in the Philippines, comprising 76 workers and two dependents.
This followed an earlier batch of 45 Filipinos, accompanied by two dependents, who returned on 17 October.
To date, a total of 636 Filipinos, along with 32 dependents, have been repatriated from Lebanon. The Department of Migrant Workers anticipates repatriating an additional 1,000 workers by the end of the year.