Pinay caregiver chooses to remain with Israeli employer

A Filipina caregiver in Israel said she had no plans of returning to the Philippines and would continue looking after the person under her care even after the ordeal they went through together.

According to JP Soriano's "24 Oras" report, Monica Biboso, a survivor of the Hamas attack in Kibbutz Be'eri in southern Israel said she had no intention of leaving the country even after she and her employer had been relocated.

“Hindi ko rin po siya kayang iwan. Parang masakit na bakit ko pa siya niligtas kung iiwan ko lang din po siya dito,” she said.

(I couldn’t bear to leave the person in my care. It hurts to think I saved my employer only to leave her.)

Biboso recalled how Hamas militants repeatedly attempted to force open the bomb shelter where they were hiding in after the surprise attack of October 7.

“Ilang beses po silang nag attempt na buksan. Sabi ko ‘Diyos ko! Diyos ko! Huwag po! ‘Yan nasa isip ko. Nagdadasal po ako tapos yung alaga ko umuubo ubo kaya naririnig nila,” she recalled.

(They were trying to force the door open. I kept asking God not to let them in! That was all I could think of. I was quietly praying while my client kept coughing so they could hear us.)

When Hamas fighters were unable to enter the shelter, they set the house on fire. Although the shelter itself did not burn, Biboso said they could feel the intense heat from inside.

The Hamas attackers left afterwards and soldiers from the Israeli Defense Force later rescued them, although their house was still burning.

A similar ordeal happened to Paul Castelvi and Mary Grace Cabrera, the Filipino caregivers who were killed by Hamas gunmen, the houses where they lived and worked destroyed by fire.

Biboso is currently undergoing psychiatric and psychological treatment.

Although many Filipinos like Biboso have chosen to stay with their employer, many Filipinos in the West Bank, a territory controlled by Palestine, have fled to neighboring Jordan in fear for their safety. They are awaiting to return to the Philippines.

Two Filipinos are still missing. The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to confirm if they were among the more than 200 hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

"But the Israelis are treating it like there is a hostage, at least one of them, (a man)," said DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega. —Sherylin Untalan/RF/NB, GMA Integrated News