 |
| Myla Someros (left) is accompanied home by best friend, team founder and president Cecil Calsas. |
But the team will certainly be missing one buddy, Myla Someros, a founding member who went home for good on April 13, ending 14 years of working in the SAR and eight years of playing for the side.
The 47-year-old Someros, a single mother to an 11-year-old daughter, left Hong Kong quietly that Wednesday night escorted by her best friend, team founder and president Cecil Calsas, who turned over the ailing OFW to her family in San Enrique, Iloilo.
“I miss her because I consider her my family. Nakakalungkot na umuwi siya dahil sa karamdaman,” Calsas told The SUN in an online interview, reminiscing the night they flew home. They were seen off by Assistant Labor Attache Henry Tianero for their early morning flight to Iloilo City.
Calsas recalled how Someros was almost barred from boarding the plane by health screeners at HKIA because she was running a fever, but the Sluggers leader said she was able to talk their way through. Then they went through the hurdle at NAIA and passed.
Back home, there’s a more serious hurdle that Someros must surmount: the reality of being penniless, as she has not received any financial help from the government.
“Nakakalungkot kapag naiisip ko po siya. Walang pinansiyal na tulong ang OWWA sa pagkakaalam ko. Parang pormalidad lang ang OWWA, dapat alisin na lang at i-refund ang contribution ng mga tao,” Calsas said.
A staff from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration office was at Iloilo Airport to assist Someros through the airport processes upon her arrival with Calsas.
Sadly, OWWA is an insurance system that grants financial aid to members who suffer permanent disability or dismemberment in work-related accidents or die of natural and accidental causes, but gives no cash benefits to seriously sick members.
A ray of hope is offered by a memorandum of agreement between OWWA and PhilHealth that offers a new medical aid to OFW members who are diagnosed with ailments that require hospitalization and long-term care will be eligible for.
MEDplus, which will be implemented starting this September, will match the benefit that PhilHealth grants to its members under its case rate system up to a maximum of P50,000.
A check with OWWA Hong Kong showed that as Someros, as an affiliate member until Nov 2016, will be eligible for the new medical aid, Welfare Officer Lorna Obedoza told The SUN in a telephone inquiry. She said Someros was suffering from pneumonia.
Calsas said the former player was too weak to walk about in the Hong Kong International Airport terminal and had to use a wheelchair. She did so, too, when she changed plane in Manila and when she disembarked in Iloilo.
Her illness had stopped Someros from playing baseball for some time, Calsas said. Instead, it was she who followed up the team’s document processing and went to meetings of the HKBA to represent the Sluggers.
Someros belonged to a team of intrepid and talented domestic helpers who have opted to go to the diamond on Sundays to run, swing bats, catch balls, and dive on the pitch in practice or real play.
In the early days of Sluggers, she was a mainstay of the team along with Calsas and other original players who have since left Hong Kong for greener pastures or to settle down.
“She was with me since I founded the team in 2008. Naging kaagapay ko na siya,” said Calsas. She said Someros was not a key player on the field but helped manage and train the players into a cutting-edge team.
With Calsas and Someros’ patience in managing and honing up the team, Sluggers became Bracket B champions in the 2015-2016 season, up from being first runner-up in the previous season.
Calsas looks to tough games ahead but is confident of a successful campaign now that Sluggers has got David Wong for its coach and three “imported” players – a Briton and two Chinese – to boost the team.
Their triumph last season has moved Sluggers to Bracket A of the league, along with the other all-Filipino team, Buffalo, which it beat for the championship. There they will be pitched against the leading teams of Hong Kong that compete in the World Cup.
When the new season opens on Sept 18, Sluggers will clash again with Buffalo and face four of the strongest local teams later. Calsas said they miss Someros and memories of her will certainly inspire the team.
