DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — After months of pain, uncertainty, and fear, help is finally on the way.
The Philippine government is preparing to fly home Grace Agudo Garciano, a 37-year-old Filipina domestic worker in Dubai who is battling stage 4 cervical cancer—a fight she could no longer continue abroad.
Hospitals in Dubai have declined to admit her due to the lack of insurance coverage, leaving Grace with little choice but to make a heartbreaking public plea for help.
That plea was heard.
According to Labor Attaché John Rio Bautista, arrangements are now underway to bring Grace back to the Philippines on January 7, with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) shouldering her plane ticket.
“Mas mabuti na ’yun,” Bautista said. “Kung may sakit, mahal ang insurance—lalo na kung pre-existing at malala na.”
For Grace, the news brought overwhelming relief.
“Opo, masaya po,” she said softly. “Makaka-uwi at makapagpagamot na po sa Pilipinas.”
Grace was diagnosed with cancer in May last year. Since then, her life has been reduced to hospital visits—admitted, discharged, then admitted again. In late November, she was confined once more, but just days before New Year’s Eve, she was released.
Not because she was better.
But because the hospital’s charity fund ran out.
“Dito, walang chance na magamot ako,” Grace said in a video appeal. “Sabi ng doctor, wala nang available na charity para sa akin. Ang option—umuwi habang kaya ko pa.”
What made her situation even more painful was the alleged neglect by her employer.
Grace said her cancer worsened because her employer failed to secure the required medical insurance—despite UAE law mandating coverage for all workers.
“No plans,” she said. “Hindi ako kinuhaan ng insurance.”
By August, Grace said she was abandoned by her employer—jobless, uninsured, and gravely ill. She has since filed a complaint with Dubai labor authorities, which remains pending.
Now discharged, Grace stays in Satwa, sharing a small bed space with her partner, Ariel Oraza, who works in a supermarket.
“Nahihirapan siyang mahiga,” Oraza shared. “May dalawang tubo siya sa likod.”
Bautista raised a painful reality.
“May trabaho ang partner niya,” he said. “Hindi siya pwedeng mag-alaga buong araw.”
Grace and Ariel both arrived in Dubai four years ago, chasing better lives. Grace is from Digos, Davao del Sur. Ariel is from Pangasinan.
Back home, Grace waits for two children.
She is a single mother—to an 18-year-old daughter in college and a 17-year-old son in senior high school.
When they learned of her illness, everything shattered.
“Umiyak po sila,” Grace said. “Hindi nila inaasahan. Sobrang sakit—lalo na emotionally. Iniisip ko, paano na ang mga anak ko?”
Once she returns home, Grace plans to seek help from the Philippine government—to continue her treatment, and to hold on to hope.
“Lalapit po ako sa gobyerno,” she said. “Hihingi po ng tulong.”
For now, what matters most is this:
Grace is going home.
Back to her children.
Back to her country.
Back to a place where she is not alone.
Those who wish to extend help may contact Grace at +971 58 628 2994 or her partner Ariel at +971 55 218 5423.
