For many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Raffy Tulfo with his radio/TV program is their last resort as they know he could get something done, even the immediate repatriation of a stricken worker abroad.
This is the reason why Armi Estimada, a 42-year-old babysitter in Qatar, wanted to immediately go to TV5 upon her arrival in the Philippines. Estimada hails from Baler, Aurora and had been working in Qatar as babysitter for 10 months, but she was sent back home because her eyesight was getting worse.
Photo credit: Raffy Tulfo in Action / YouTube
According to Estimada, her eyesight suddenly deteriorated and she could no longer see letters and numbers on paper; thus, her employer in Qatar immediately sent her back home.
Because she could still function well as long as it didn’t involve reading, she claimed to have asked her agency to move her to another employer where she would not be working as babysitter. But the request had fallen on deaf ears and her employer simply sent her home, without sending her last salary.
Photo credit: Raffy Tulfo in Action / YouTube
With no money and no job, the OFW had to find help because she has 5 children to feed and her husband is still recovering from a recent accident.
She didn’t even have money for food or fare, but a kind taxi driver let her ride from the airport to TV5 on a debt! The ride cost Php610, yet the driver allowed her to take the ride even if she didn’t have money. Though there was no guarantee that Tulfo would give the OFW money to pay him back, the taxi driver still did this – and he impressed a lot of netizens.
Photo credit: Raffy Tulfo in Action / YouTube
At the station, the OFW eventually able to meet with Tulfo to share her problems. He talked to Christine Concepcion, the Account Assistant of Havillah Manpower Agency, but the latter claimed that they had not received any complaint or report from Estimada or her family regarding her situation. She promised to help the OFW get her last month’s salary and to the agency to cover the costs of her medical checkup.
Though Tulfo said he would help Estimada get those promised help from her agency, he also did his best to find ways to help her out. He called the POEA to ask whether the OFW could receive some assistance, plus promised to help her with the medical problem as well as provide her with livelihood so she wouldn’t have to go back to Qatar…
Watch the video here, Part 1: