MANILA/HONG KONG: A Filipino domestic helper has been hailed as a hero after emerging from a deadly Hong Kong tower fire with her employer’s three-month-old baby and elderly mother.
Just a day after arriving in the city, Rhodora Alcaraz, 28, found herself trapped and alone with her new employer’s loved ones in the family’s smoke-filled Wang Fuk Court apartment before being rescued by firefighters just in time, according to accounts of her ordeal shared by her family and friends.
Alcaraz’s story has for some highlighted the enduring role of the city’s hundreds of thousands of domestic helpers who cook, clean and care for the young and elderly, often living in cramped spaces and earning modest wages in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
“I salute you, Rhodora, and all overseas foreign workers who continue to sacrifice for their families even while far from home,” Senator Imee Marcos, the sister of the Philippines president, said in a Facebook post on Sunday after visiting Alcaraz in hospital.
She posted a photo of Alcaraz lying in a hospital bed wearing a purple gown and a face mask and giving a thumbs up.
“A true modern-day hero and a model of compassion and courage of Filipinos in a foreign land,” the government’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday, prompting hundreds of comments from well-wishers.
Her employer’s baby and mother were also admitted to intensive care but were in a stable condition, her employer Kanon Chung said in a Facebook post.
Former employer prayed for miracle
Panicked audio messages Alcaraz sent to her sister during Wednesday’s blaze — that killed at least 151 people — went viral after they were shared online by family and friends trying to locate her in the chaotic aftermath.
“I’m feeling very weak. I can’t breathe,” she said in one of the clips, sobbing and struggling to speak.
Rhoda Lynn Dayo, Alcaraz’s former employer, was among those trying to reach people in Hong Kong to help establish her whereabouts, she said.
“I truly expected that she wouldn’t be found anymore. So I prayed: Please God ... Perform a miracle, Lord,” she said.
Alcaraz, known by the nickname Jackie, had cared for Dayo’s children from the age of 17 for more than four years back in the Philippines.
She was so trusted by the family that Dayo said she was comfortable leaving her children with Alcaraz even when she had to travel to the US
“The way she cared for the kids was different — there was real love ... I don’t doubt that she would put her life on the line for the child she was caring for,” Dayo said.
Nine Indonesian domestic workers and one Filipino are confirmed among the dead at Wang Fuk Court, the city’s deadliest fire in more than 75 years. More than 40 people remain missing.
There are around 368,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, according to the latest figures, accounting for nearly a tenth of the workforce. The majority come from the Philippines and Indonesia, and in recent years there have been increasing numbers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
Like many of her peers, Alcaraz — who has eight siblings — decided to work overseas to earn higher wages she could send back home to support her family.
She worked for two years in Qatar, before taking up the job in Hong Kong.
“We are poor. Our father is just a fisherman, that is why she decided to work abroad to help the family,” Alcaraz’s younger sister, Raychell Loreto, said.
“We are so proud of our sister,” she added.
Philippines celebrates ‘heroic’ helper who survived Hong Kong fire
https://arab.news/cwq3e
Philippines celebrates ‘heroic’ helper who survived Hong Kong fire
- Helper arrived in Hong Kong day before disaster
- President’s sister visited ‘modern-day hero’ in hospital
US set to relinquish several senior NATO command posts
- US will transfer leadership of its Norfolk command in Virginia, focusing on the alliance’s north, to Britain
- The changes will likely take months to be implemented, according to two NATO diplomats
BRUSSELS: The United States will hand over two top regional commands in NATO to European countries, diplomats said Monday, as President Donald Trump presses allies to take greater responsibility for their defense.
Washington will transfer leadership of NATO’s Naples command, which focuses on the alliance’s south, to Italy and leadership of its Norfolk command in Virginia, focusing on the alliance’s north, to Britain.
The United States will meanwhile take over the command of NATO’s maritime forces, based in the United Kingdom.
The changes, first reported by French outlet La Lettre, will likely take months to be implemented, two NATO diplomats told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It’s a good sign of burden shifting in practice,” a diplomat said.
The shuffling of NATO command positions comes as Washington has said it could reduce its defense presence in Europe to focus on other threats like China.
But military superpower Washington will still remain central as it will have control of NATO’s core air, land and sea commands and retain the top position of Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
European countries have already ramped up military budgets in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and last year agreed to hike NATO’s defense spending target.
Trump has rattled faith in the reliability of the United States and last month plunged the alliance into crisis by making claims on Greenland.
But US NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker separately on Monday insisted that the US leader was looking to strengthen, rather than “dismantle,” NATO by making Europe step up.
“We’re trying to make NATO stronger, not to withdraw or reject NATO, but make it work like it was intended as an alliance of 32 strong and capable allies,” Whitaker said.
