JEDDAH, 21 December 2007 — Leonora Somera, the 65-year-old Filipino woman who worked as a shepherdess in Al-Baha for 18 years, may have to wait some more days before being reunited with her loved ones in the Philippines.

Welfare officials at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah yesterday said an earlier plan to send the woman home before Christmas is no longer possible because the Saudi Passport and Immigration Department has yet to issue her exit papers.

“Unfortunately, she cannot leave yet without the necessary papers from the Immigration Department,” said Labor Attaché Adam Musa, deputy chief of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and head of the head of the OWWA in Jeddah.

Musa said he was hoping that the papers would be ready after the Haj holidays so that Somera could leave the Kingdom before the year ends.

He said there should have been no more obstacles since Somera’s employer has issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for her exit and that the SR5,200 accumulated penalties for her unrenewed iqama (national ID) had been paid.

News about the continued delay in her repatriation has made Somera feel lonelier and weary.

“I am already very tired and am losing my patience, but I will continue to pray that God will keep me stronger so that I will finally be reunited with my relatives,” said Somera, who is now on her third year at the shelter for distressed OFWs at the consulate.

She first came to the Kingdom in December 1987 under the sponsorship of a family in Riyadh. In 1988, she moved to Al-Baha in Western Saudi Arabia with her sponsor’s son, Misfer Al-Ghamdi, and family. There they left her in a large house to look after their goats, while they moved to Makkah for the education of their children.

She was left on her own to tend to 42 goats, which she had to take up the mountain every morning for grazing and down in the evening.

Although her monthly salary was only SR500, she claimed that her employer failed to pay her regularly.

She eventually sought refuge at the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah in late 2005, after which she filed claims against her employer with the Saudi Labor Office. As calculated by POLO officials, the employer still owes her SR67,000.

Surprise Visit

Last week, Somera got a tearful surprise when the son of her employer came to the consulate to sign the NOC and apologize for her father’s inadequacies as an employer.

“This was the baby who was born when I was still new in the Kingdom,” Somera, in tears, said in Tagalog when Mohammad Misfer Al-Ghamdi, now 18 years old, asked if she still recognized him.

The young Al-Ghamdi was profuse with apologies as she embraced the woman who helped took care of him in his boyhood days.

“I am sorry for all your sufferings and my father also asks your forgiveness for not being able to pay you commensurately for your loyal service,” the young man told Somera.

He said his father was very sick and was in hospital. “He asks you to pray for him,” the young Al-Ghamdi said.

Apart from the NOC, the young Al-Ghamdi also gave Somera SR2,000. That was all his family could give, he said.

Somera assured the young man that she had forgiven his father and that she still loved his family.

“Had my employer been up to his obligation, I would have continued working for them,” said Somera, who left a job in the Philippines as bus conductress and a young daughter to try her luck in Saudi Arabia.

Overwhelming SupportIn hopes of seeing the woman reunited with her loved ones before Christmas, the community not only contributed money to make up for her employer’s shortcomings but also paid the accumulated SR5,200 penalty for her expired iqama.

The OWWA office sought the community’s help in raising the amount, saying that while the Saudi government could be asked to waive the penalty considering that Somera was a victim, the next hearing on the case filed with the Labor Office was still scheduled in January.

Somera also personally appealed to community leaders for help, saying she was already tired waiting for the labor case to conclude.

In response, the Filipino community in Jubail headed by Flor Tañedo immediately offered to pay half the penalty. The group also gave a cash gift of SR 1,360, in addition to previous collections remitted to a bank account opened by the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for Somera.

Told of the Jubail community’s offer, the Jeddah community turned their Wow Pinoy fun game bowling tournament at the Iceland Bowling Center on Dec. 6 to a partly fund-raising event and came up with the other half of the required amount.

In another surprise gift to Somera, Labor Attaché David Des Dicang, head of the POLO in the Eastern Region, handed over to Somera a SR2,145 amount collected by the Computer Society of Filipinos in Alkhobar.

According to Welfare Officer Digna Diaz, a couple in Jeddah was also ready to provide a one-way plane ticket to Manila for Somera once her exit papers are ready.

All these are in addition to the contributions remitted by hundreds of individuals to Somera’s PNB account.

Wow Pinoy Event

During the Wow Pinoy tournament, Somera was invited to speak before hundreds of participants and her presence became an inspiration for everyone to say the one-day annual sports program should become a continuing affair.

“This annual event is one way of reaching out to other Filipino community groups. Isang araw na puno ng kasayahan at purely bonding that makes the atmosphere lively and festive. Nasiyahan ka na, nakatulong ka pa (while having fun, you are helping someone),” said Usman Ismael, who heads both the Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club and Ranao Divers Club.

Wow Pinoy was organized in 2005 by Arab News and TFC correspondent Francis Salud as a simple fun event for community leaders in Jeddah to bond together.

“Para hindi magmukhang puro kasayahan lang, minabuti naming maghanap ng beneficiary na aming tutulungan (So that it’s not just purely for fun, we decided to also raise funds for chosen beneficiaries), Salud explained during the tournament.

Participating in this year’s Wow Pinoy event, which was organized by the Association of Tennis Clubs (Astec) headed by Bernie Soguilon, were 32 community organizations.

Apat from Astec, the Jeddah Ranao Tennis Club and Ranao Divers Clubs, the participating groups included Bag-ong Bicol Saro nin Jeddah headed by Danny Londonio; Boholano Community in Jeddah by Red Bual; Cebuano Speaking Organization in Saudi Arabia, Ric Amper; Fesscor Talent Center-WR & UniFil, Erwin Reyes; Filipino Achievers in Saudi Arabia, Edwin Gonzales; FilJed Divers League, Jimmy Ulanday; Hawak Kamay Gabay Organization, Mel Bargamento; Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers-WRCSA, Nilo Viray; King Abdulaziz Medical City, Al Bacleon.

Kapit Bisig Organization, Ernie Apolo; Kasapi Congress, Jauhari Usman; Muslim Christian Basketball Referee Coop., Mohammad Protacio; Philippine Sunrise International School, Ofelia Laguardia; OFW Cooperative Council, Wenfred Castolome; Philippine Institute of Public Accountants, Digno Dennis Durens; Saudi Oger Group, Alexander Duma; Pinoy Anglers Club, Efren San Pedro; Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers-WRSA, Joey Arellano; Saudia City Club, Froilan Lim; Siglakas, Norby Manapat; Waraynon ha Jeddah, Raul Negradas; Xpat Bowlers, Eva Garcia; and Romblomanon sa Jeddah, Ronald Mangua.

Unable to make it but who helped all throughout the program were the Philippine Karatedo Federation headed by Gerry Renta Jr.; Jeddah Photographers’ Association, Rey Magante; Jeddah Pinoy Photography Enthusiasts Group, Edison Madrideo; Filipino Martial Arts Association, Cesar Bencito; and Guhit Pinoy Foundation, Marilyn Salud. The working committee included Soguilon, Jun R. Atienza as overall coordinator, Paul Antiporda as program director, Francis Idjao as head of technical committee, Ulysses Perez, Romy Detera, Abe Manzanilla, Dennis P. Durens, Gerry DJ Renta Jr., Jonathan Padua, and Rey Magante,.

The program was made possible through the help of Sky Freight Forwarders, Golden Saba/OFWCC, PSME-WRSA, Pinoy Anglers Club, Xpat Bowlers, and The Filipino Channel. The PICPA handled the enormous task of encoding and tallying the scores, while Fesscor presented an interpretative song number of Tayo-Tayo (Just Us) in dazzling Muslim costumes.

Picked as next year’s Wow Pinoy organizer after the customary raffle draw was the OFWCC, whose incoming chairman is Atoy Esguerra.