HOME AT LAST. Elwin Aralar, 25, stands outside their house in upland Pansud village, La Paz, Leyte in this undated photo. After walking for four days and quarantined for seven weeks due to movement restrictions, he finally arrived home on May 9, 2020. (PNA photo by Sarwell Meniano)
LA PAZ, Leyte – After walking for four days and quarantined for seven weeks due to movement restrictions, a jobless man finally arrived in this town’s upland village.
Elwin Aralar, 25, said it felt good to be home with his family again despite financial uncertainties after he lost his job as a construction worker that earned him PHP4,500 a week for the past two years.
Aralar and four co-workers from Leyte left their workplace in Binondo, Manila on March 14.
Carrying 20 kg. of rice and a cooking pot, the group initially planned to walk back to their hometowns.
Despite movement restrictions that have taken buses off the road, the desperate men began their way home, willing to risk sealed borders and checkpoints.
“Our fear of suffering starvation and catching the deadly virus was our strongest motivator. We realized that no one (would) help us out in Manila the way they do in our village. We had no money since we did not get our pay that week,” he told reporters in an interview late Monday.
They walked 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day and rested at night in waiting sheds and outside convenience stores. Since they only had rice with them, some policemen and strangers shared some viand with them.
After four days of walking more than 300 km., the group arrived in Del Gallego, Camarines Sur on March 18 where they were denied entry.
The local government placed them in an isolation facility, providing them with food and other basic needs.
The quarantine was only intended for two weeks but lasted nearly two months as the local government had to wait for their test results and coordinate with local officials in Leyte for their smooth travel home.
On Saturday, these men finally arrived in Leyte after the Philippine Army provided transport services for stranded workers.
Aralar’s four companions are from the towns of Sta. Fe and Alangalang.
“It’s better to stay here because I will never go hungry even if I don’t have money, but I doubt that I will be able to find a high-paying job here,” said Aralar, who just completed Grade 5.
Sitting outside their makeshift house in upland Pansud village here, the young man wondered if he would land a job in the province to support his parents and seven younger siblings.
Two of his younger brothers also lost their jobs in a construction firm and still stranded in Metro Manila.
“The lockdown in Manila really bothered me. Two of my sons called me up begging for help since they had nothing to eat. We sent our hard-earned PHP900 cash last March for them to buy food,” recalled their 45-year-old mother, Jennelyn.
Aralar plans to help his father on his farm, a difficult job that would only provide him an average of PHP2,000 a month, an amount that he could earn for only three days in Metro Manila.
La Paz town Mayor Angel Sia said the return of affected workers in their town due to the coronavirus pandemic is a big challenge for economically depressed towns.
More Leyte residents are expected to return to their hometowns as the central government implements the Balik Probinsya program, which encourages people to relocate to provinces to decongest Metro Manila.
“We will always welcome them because they are from this town, but we cannot provide all their needs because of very limited resources. We can only give food packs that would last for weeks. We don’t have a single factory here that would hire them,” Sia said in an interview.
La Paz is a fifth-class town with a population of 20,000.
The local government’s combined income is only about PHP90 million a year. (PNA)
