BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Overseas Filipino worker Loreta Alacre was declared a hero by the city government of Cadiz in Negros Occidental shortly before she was buried yesterday in a public cemetery in her hometown.
Alacre, 49, of Barangay Cadiz Viejo, was among four Filipinos killed when Hamas militants attacked the Gaza Strip along Israel’s border on Oct. 7. She had been a caregiver in the Jewish state for about 15 years.
Before the burial in Barangay Caduhaan, Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. unveiled the marker for the Loreta V. Alacre Evacuation Center (LVAEC) at the Cadiz Viejo National High School, where Alacre – fondly called Daday by her family – completed secondary education.
The ceremony was attended by Department of Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac.
“LVAEC will always serve as a reminder to all Cadiznons that we have our own heroine in the person of Daday,” Escalante said .
He described Alacre as an “icon of perseverance, persistence, hope and selflessness.”
“She always thought of her family’s welfare,” Escalante said.
Naming the newly established evacuation center after the OFW is the city government’s way of saying thank you, Daday, for putting Cadiz on the world map as home of great heroes, he said.
“She’s our bagong bayani. She deserves this lasting marker within an edifice fit and worthy to be her remembrance from all of us,” Escalante said.
The mayor appealed to other OFW families in Cadiz to be prudent in spending the income of their loved ones abroad.
Escalante said he would talk again with the Alacre family about the possible lifetime assistance the city government could extend to them.