Donation boxes have been set up at some Filipino-run stores in Macau to help raise funds for ill or deceased Filipino migrant workers there.
Eight stores on Rua da Alfandega and three remittance centers worked together to place donation boxes at their stores, Macau Daily Times reported.
One of the cases was a Filipino man surnamed Laderas who worked for a veterinary center in Macau.
Laderas suffered extreme abdominal pain and underwent surgery last December at Conde de São Januário Hospital. He was readmitted to the hospital in mid-January with an infection that had arisen from his operation, which led to a coma.
His sister Editha Laderas, who works as a domestic helper in the city, said they had paid 32,000 patacas (about US$4,000) for the operation in December by pawning a piece of land and three farm animals they had in the Philippines.
But this time, the family has no idea how much the hospital bill will be as her brother needs various medical procedures, plus the cost of medication and the hospital room.
Editha said there was not much left back home that they could sell or pawn, so she had placed the donation boxes at the stores hoping fellow Filipinos could help them out.
She said the Philippine Consulate in Macau had advised her that it could only help in the event of medical repatriation.
Some of the other donation boxes were placed on behalf of ill or deceased migrant workers who have no immediate families or relatives in the region. These donations will only be collected from the boxes once the worker is due for repatriation to the Philippines.
Usually, the boxes feature a letter from a hospital or the Philippine Consulate or a copy of the worker’s passport to explain the situation.