CONDOLENCES. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Arnell Ignacio (left) condoles with the siblings of Negrense caregiver Loreta Villarin Alacre, who was killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel, during his visit to their family residence in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental Monday afternoon (Oct. 23, 2023). Ignacio was joined by OWWA-Western Visayas OIC Regional Director Rizza Joy Moldez, who led the agency personnel in assisting the Alacre family in the preparations for the wake of Loreta. (Screenshot from OWWA Facebook video)
BACOLOD CITY – Negrense caregiver Loreta Alacre, who was killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel, has been hailed as “true hero” by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) as her wake is expected to start Monday at her family home in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
A tribute banner is mounted on the wall of the Alacre residence in Sitio Camay-an, Barangay Cadiz Viejo, which was built through the remittances sent by the 49-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
“Hanga kami sa iyong pagmamahal, lakas at katatagan. Sa puso at isipan namin hindi ka malilimutan. Bayani kang tunay (We admire your love, strength and firmness. In our hearts and mind, we will never forget you. You are truly a hero),” the OWWA said of Loreta, whose remains arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio visited Loreta’s family members, who included her seven siblings, one of them her younger sister Nelia, also an OFW in Kuwait who came home last week.
Ignacio was joined by OWWA-Western Visayas officer-in-charge Regional Director Rizza Joy Moldez, who led the agency personnel in assisting the Alacre family in the preparations for the wake of Loreta once her remains are brought to her home from the funeral parlor.
Based in Tel Aviv and a caregiver in Israel for about 15 years, Loreta was attending the Supernova Music Festival outside the Re’im Kibbutz near the Gaza Strip when the Hamas rampage took place on Oct. 7.
Nelia, the youngest among the Alacre siblings, said she last talked with her late sister in a family group chat on Oct. 6, a Friday, the day before the attacks happened.
In a Facebook post, Loreta’s employer Noam Solomon described her as a “dedicated and devoted” caregiver to their family for more than 14 years, adding that her Filipino employee had become her “right hand and confidant” in the last five years.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. earlier said the city government is also providing financial assistance and food packs to the bereaved family.
The city government also paved the road going to the Alacre residence as the area was previously hard to access for motor vehicles, he added.
Last week, Escalante and Second District Rep. Alfredo Marañon III witnessed the turnover of a PHP500,000 financial assistance to the Alacre family by representatives of House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez.
The Alacre family had also received a PHP40,000 financial aid from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. (PNA)
