• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Loreta Alacre, who was proclaimed a heroine of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental by Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., was laid to rest on Nov. 5 as Negrenses also marked the 125th Al Cinco de Noviembre bloodless revolution against Spanish colonizers in 1898.
Alacre, 49, fondly called “Daday” by her siblings and other family members in Sitio Camay-an in Barangay Cadiz Viejo, died on Oct. 7 when the Hamas militants attacked along the Gaza Strip in Israel, where she had been working for about 15 years as a caregiver.
Escalante led the unveiling of a marker for the Loreta V. Alacre Evacuation Center (LVAEC) at the compound of Cadiz Viejo National High School, where she completed her secondary education.
“LVAEC will always serve as a reminder to all Cadiznons that we have our own heroine in the person of Daday,” the mayor said as he described her as an “icon of perseverance, persistency, hope and selflessness.”
“She had always thought of her family’s welfare,” he added.
Naming the newly-established evacuation center after her is the city government’s way of saying “Thank You, Daday!” for making Cadiz as the “Home to Great a Heroine,” Escalante said.
“She’s our ‘bagong bayani’ thus, she deserves this lasting marker within an edifice fit and worthy to be a remembrance of her. “She’s out of our sight, but her memories highlighted by her unique heroism will forever linger in us,” the mayor said.
Escalante also appealed to other families of OFWs from Cadiz City to be prudent in spending the income of their loved ones abroad.
“May Daday’s case serve as an eye opener to all OFWs from Cadiz and their respective families to always value their earnings,” he said.
Escalante said he will discuss with the Alacre family the possible lifetime assistance the city government can extend to their family such as employment of any of her seven siblings, scholarships for her nieces and nephews, and livelihood aid.
“We will do our share in helping Daday realize her dreams for her beloved family,” he added.
Hundreds of Cadiznons joined the Alacre family members and relatives during the OFW’s interment at a public cemetery in Barangay Caduha-an. | GB
