Photos by Antonio Magno Carranza Jr. of www.pusangkalye.net.
Blogger Danilo Garcia Jacob had lived the most part of his growing up years without a mother who had to leave them when he was young to work abroad as caregiver. The cycle is being repeated today: He works in Kuwait, his younger sister in Dubai and his elder brother in Saudi Arabia.
“At ngayon ngang kami naman ang lumayo sa kanyang piling, nagtagumpay siyang pagtibayin ang aming luob na anumang hirap sa ibang bansa ang pinakamahalaga ay ang dahilan kung bakit kailangang magsakripisyo at makipagsapalaran (And now that it is our turn to leave her, my mother has succeeded in preparing us for the hardships of a life overseas and accepting why we must make the sacrifice),” he wrote in “Ang bakal na ibon sa himpapawid,” on his blog Animus (http://dahnjacob.com).
Jacob’s heart-tugging story won the first prize in this year’s Pinay Expats/Overseas Workers Blog Awards (PEBA). His tearful mother, Rubi Garcia, received the award for him during the awarding held Thursday at Teatrino in Greenhills, San Juan.
A parallel category was created this year for Philippine-based blogs that also deal with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The winner for the best blog award was “Fil-Am” by Davao-based Fr. Felmar Castrodes Fiel, SVD, posted in his blog, Felmar’s Missionary Journey (http://fielsvd.wordpress.com).