LIMAY, Bataan- The overseas Filipino worker who miraculously escaped death while held captive by Islamists in a gas plant in the Algerian desert expressed joy for being reunited on Monday with his family here.
“Nawala na ang takot ko dahil alam kong safe na safe na ako sapagka’t nakita kong lahat ang pamilya ko,” said Joseph “Jojo” Balmaceda as he set foot in his residence in Barangay Reformista past 8:00 in the evening.
Balmaceda, 42, an instrument technician of British Petroleum in Algeria, arrived at the Manila international Airport before 3 p.m. after being treated for shrapnel wounds on the head and right shoulder in a London hospital in England.
“Naibsan na nararamdaman kong sakit, trauma bagama’t masakit pa rin ang dibdib ko at humina ang aking tainga ngunit kaya kong tiisin ito kesa sa napagdaanan kong napakahirap,” the OFW who has spent eight years in Algeria said.
He said if he will fully recover back to his health, he would ask government to give him a new job based on his craft in oil and gas plant to be able to support his wife and four children.
“Kaya ako nag-aabroad dahil para sa mga anak ko. Ano na ang mangyayari sa akin ngayon dahil wala akong ibang inaasahan kundi ang pag-aabroad,” Balmaceda said but swore he will not go back to Algeria.
“Ayaw kong balikan ang bangungot na totoong-totoong nangyari sa akin,” he said.
The problem, however, he said is that he found it hard to seek employment in the Philippines with the skill he knows. “Hindi ako matanggap sa Pilipinas sa craft ko, mabuti pa sa British Petroleum, ang Algeria natanggap ako,” Balmaceda said.
He said that Algeria has high regards for Filipinos, especially for workers like them in the gas and oil plant.
“Bakit kaya sa Pilipinas, hindi pinapansin ang craft na ito?” he asked.
Balmaceda recalled his ordeal to his relatives and his godfather former Limay Vice-Mayor Virgilio Isidro, whom he considers as his second parent. His father and mother were already dead. He said he was surprised he was alive when the vehicle they were held in exploded but that prayers saved him.
He said he had to crawl 300 meters to reach the line of Algerian government forces who continued to fire towards their direction. “Nagkamalay ako sa ospital na,” Balmaceda said.
“Pa, mahal na mahal kita,” said 8-year old Anjela Louise Balmaceda as she and her younger brother embraced their father.
“Masayang-masaya dahil kumpleto na uli pamilya namin,” Yrish, Balmaceda’s wife, said when asked how she felt.
