Hong Kong flight ticket fiasco means heartbreaking Christmas disappointment for young sons of Filipino domestic helper
Sharon Cevezo, 36, will not make it back home in time to enjoy rare free day out at Manila Ocean Park – a treat she would struggle to afford out of her own pocket
For many Hong Kong children, a trip to a theme park is nothing new. Some even visit several times a year. But for domestic helper Sharon Cevezo, it is a luxury she cannot afford for her two sons.
So it was a Christmas miracle for the Filipino when her employer awarded her a free day out and a night in a hotel with her children, aged 16 and 13, at Manila Ocean Park in the Philippine capital.
The trio were set to enjoy the big day during Cevezo’s vacation back to her homeland for the holiday season. But hopes of a happy Christmas were dashed for the Ilocos Norte native when she found out on Tuesday that an air ticket home she had bought through Peya Travel, a Hong Kong agency specialising in flights popular with domestic helpers, did not exist.
Fearing she might not make it back in time for Christmas Day, she immediately booked another air ticket, but was unable to secure one to get her back before the theme park outing, set for Thursday.
“I’m very sad,” Cevezo, 36, said as tears rolled down her cheeks. Not being able to fulfil her promise to her children, to take them to the oceanarium, was a bitter blow, she said.