Appeal for help for an elderly woman spreads on Facebook

MANILA, Philippines – A Facebook user has taken up the cause of helping an old woman return to her home in Cebu, but says she still needs to purchase a plane ticket. 

The original post from Chriselle Costales said she the woman, Liza Ylaya, near her school in Tarlac. Costales said the people on the street looked like they were avoiding Ylaya. When she asked Ylaya where she lived, she could not understand Ylaya’s answer causing her to wonder if the old woman was mute. Ylaya pulled out a piece of paper and used it to make her answers clearer.

It was from the exchanges on the sheet of paper that Costales learned that Ylaya’s address was in Cebu City and that Ylaya had moved to Tarlac to work as a maid. Ylaya also told Costales that her difficulty in moving and speaking were the results of a heart attack which left her unable to move half her body. 

Because Ylaya’s husband had already passed, she named her cousin when Costales asked about any family. Costales then offered to take her to the barangay hall because she had been sleeping on the streets for some time, but Ylaya refused. 

Costales observed Ylaya was tightly clutching some money and asked her about it. Ylaya had been saving the little money she had so she could buy passage back to Cebu. Moved by Ylaya’s story, Costales decided to turn to Facebook to ask for help and send a message to Ylaya’s family.

In her update to the story, Costales said she knew where Ylaya lived and how to send her there, but still needed a plane ticket. She also called on readers to either send her a ticket for Ylaya and any extra money she would receive would go into medical treatment for Ylaya’s ailment.

Helping the elderly

If you encounter similar cases, here are the appropriate steps to take, according to Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) Director Alice Bonoan:

• Immediately refer the elderly person to the barangay.
• If barangay does not have a facility, the elderly person will be accommodated in other care centers like the Golden Acres.
• Once the address of the elderly person is located, the city social welfare officer will hold a case conference.
• If the elderly person is not from Metro Manila, DSWD will coordinate with the receiving local government unit (LGU).
• The receiving LGU will turn over the elderly person to the care of his or her family.

“Value the elderly persons in our family,” Bonoan earlier reminded the public, stressing that family members “should care for and look after each other.” – With a report from Bea Orante/Rappler.com