Filipinos are known for their resilience and being family-oriented. Despite all the trials and difficulties they encounter, Filipinos continue to adapt, live, and put high regard on family.

Maria, the eldest of the five children of farmers Manolo and Emy, hailed from Bayawan, Negros Occidental. Satisfaction can be seen in their family as they live a happy, simple life. However, their family’s strength was put to test when both Manolo and Emy died on a same year.

Orphaned at a young age, Maria and her siblings were forced to quit school and sustain themselves. Fortunately, they were taken in by their grandmother. Maria, being the eldest child, claimed the responsibility of sustaining her siblings and her grandmother. At a young age, she helped her grandmother through farming, and eventually moved to Metro Manila hoping to find greener pasture and provide better for her family.

Maria was only 14 years old when she moved to Manila in which she first worked as a seamstress and then as a house helper. It was difficult for her to be away from her family but she knew she had to make sacrifices for the sake of her siblings.

Eventually, Maria learned to adjust and life at the Metro seemed adaptable for her. A few years after, she met her husband and they had two children together.

Maria and her husband lived with contentment despite all the hardships. They surpassed all the challenges that came into their lives and chose to stay inlove with each other every day.

However, in one very unfortunate day, Maria was again put to a test when her husband died due to a motorcycle accident. It was then when her seizures began, affecting her mental and psychosocial state.

Maria went to her siblings for support when her mental condition continued. Her brother, Marlon, who worked as a fish vendor in Bulacan, took her and her children in. Her family did their best to provide for her and aid her despite not being fully aware of her mental condition. In their barrio, people are only used to seek help from quack doctors.

When Maria’s condition worsened, her children were brought to their province to be looked after by their grandmother. As her siblings in Bulacan were all working as market vendors, there were times when they would have to leave Maria alone in the house. Eventually, Maria started to wander and leave the house, but she had always found her way back after a few weeks.

Come June 2018, Maria, all the way from Bulacan, wandered and reached Quezon City. Lost in a huge city and not knowing how to go back to their house, she became a street dweller for months. One day, Maria had multiple seizure attacks while she was dwelling in a street along Mother Ignacia in Quezon City. Fortunately, Ms. Reyes, a concerned citizen who works at a company near Maria, reached out to help Maria surpass her seizure attacks. Ms. Reyes took her in for a few days while facilitating her referral to the Social Services Department of Quezon City for assistance.

With the kind-hearted actions of Ms. Reyes for Maria, she was eventually brought to the hospital for check-up and was diagnosed with Other Specified Mental Disorder due to Seizure Disorder. Maria was then referred to Sanctuary Center, a residential care facility o DSWD-NCR that serves as a place of refuge and home to rehabilitate the unattached adult women with improved psycho-social disability.

At the Center, Maria was provided with medications and psychosocial rehabilitation.  Her seizure attacks lessened and became manageable. Upon improvement of Maria’s condition, she started to remember her family.

Sanctuary Center was able to locate Maria’s family through coordination with the Local Social Welfare Offices of both Negros Occidental and Bulacan. Little did Maria know, her family has been longing and searching for her since 2018. Despite their difficult living circumstances, they continued to search for her day and night. The family willingly coordinated with Sanctuary Center as they are very much excited to have Maria back in their arms. On November 12, 2019, Maria was finally reunited with her family.

Maria’s condition was explained to her whole family. Her siblings and children were very thankful that they finally got to understand her mental condition. Necessary assistance and referrals were done with the local government to assist the family in their community. Accordingly, Maria’s reunion with her family was a great gift for her as she got to celebrate her birthday with them last November 24.

“Pagpapahalaga sa pamilya” is a Filipino value that these true events highlight. The family, who may not have everything, remained happy and contented as long as they have each other. Maria’s family is a proof that a Filipino family, no matter what the circumstances are, continue to provide genuine love and support for each other. This unique Filipino trait extends to far-flung relatives and even to strangers, just like what Ms. Reyes did for Maria. If it wasn’t for the compassionate act of a stranger who took Maria in like a family, Maria would not have been provided with help and be reunited with her family.

Just like this heartwarming story, values such as prioritizing the Filipino families, showing compassion, and radiating empathy, are also what form the core of DSWD-NCR’s Serbisyong May Malasakit. ###

From the reports of: Ms. Phyllis Jessa Abenoja and Ms. Luz M. Buen