At this time of year, Fatima Ramos would normally be preparing her balikbayan boxes. Overseas Filipinos typically fill these boxes with gifts, clothes, food and household items to send to their loved ones back home in the Philippines for Christmas.
Ramos has previously sent the tax-exempt parcels to her family and Philippine charity organisations from Abu Dhabi, where she works as a domestic worker.
Now back in the Philippines, Ramos is seeking answers about the parcels she sent last year, some of which arrived severely damaged while others remain missing.
“I got one of my boxes, and it was completely soaked. The clothes were faded and mouldy. The items and the box were all crushed. It was heartbreaking. The food, such as the chocolates, had melted because it got wet,” Ramos told This Week in Asia.
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