BACOLOD CITY—The body of the Negrense caregiver who was killed by Hamas militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 arrived in her hometown Cadiz City in Negros Occidental province on Sunday.
Loreta Alacre, 49, was first brought to the city’s Beniabon Funeral Parlor and will be transferred to her home in Barangay Cadiz Viejo at 1 p.m. on Monday, according to Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr.
Relatives of the Negrense caregiver wailed as her closed casket arrived at Bacolod Silay Airport at 5:37 a.m. on Sunday. Her remains were later transported to Cadiz City, about 62 kilometers from Bacolod.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) and the Cadiz City government planned to give a hero’s welcome for Alacre during the transfer of her remains to her home on Monday, Escalante said.
Sacrifice recognized
Rizza Moldes, Owwa regional director in Western Visayas, said financial assistance would be given to the family of Alacre upon the instructions of President Marcos.
The government, she said, would also facilitate Alacre’s funeral and burial expenses.
The nieces and nephews of Alacre, whom she was sending to school, would be included in a scholarship and a livelihood program for the family after the funeral.
Moldes said a hero’s welcome would be given to Alacre for the sacrifice she gave, not just to her family, but also for her heroism as an overseas Filipino worker.
She said they have no final information yet if President Marcos will visit the wake.
Alacre had been planning to come home for her 50th birthday on Dec. 13. The last time she had visited the family in Cadiz City was in 2015.
“We love Loreta very much. She was very kind to all of us,” her sister Anabella said.
According to sisters Anabella and Lorena, the body of Loreta was in “bad shape.”
“I am very angry at the people who did this to her. She would still be with us today if they had spared her,” she lamented.
Alacre will be buried at Caduhaan Cemetery in Cadiz City on Nov. 5.
Alacre, along with her Chinese boyfriend, were killed in a Hamas attack as she was returning to the house of her employer in Israel after a day off on Oct. 7.
She was the breadwinner of her family. Alacre has seven siblings and was sending her nieces and nephews to school.
Lorena and Anabella thanked all those who have helped their family in their hour of grief. INQ