‘A better life’

Sydney resident returning from Philippines with teenage sons she hasn’t seen in five years

When Sydney resident Ruby de Loyola returns home later this month she’ll have more than just a few souvenirs from the Philippines.

The 38-year-old Filipina is bringing back her boys.

Prior to last week, de Loyola hadn’t seen sons Jaden, 16, and Cyrille, 15, for almost five years.

Now, after years of hard work, faith, dedication, and dealing with what seemed like mountains of paperwork, the relieved and proud mother is anxious to spend some quality time with the boys in their north end Sydney home.

“I am so excited — this is the day I have been waiting for a long time,” said de Loyola, who has maintained close contact with her sons and other family members back in the Philippines through social media.

A nurse by trade, de Loyola is one of more than 10 million Filipinos presently working abroad, or as they say in the Philippines, “overseas.” That represents about 10 per cent of the Southeast Asian country that is comprised of more than 7,000 islands.

She explained that wages in her native country are so low that she can send more money home to support her family working a minimum wage job in Canada than she can as a nurse in her hometown of Manila, where she would make about $300 Canadian a month.

“The salaries are much higher in Canada and you have to pay for everything in the Philippines, even education — it is only good there for rich people, but even nurses and teachers do not make enough, so we have to leave to make a better life for our families,” said de Loyola, who previous to emigrating to Canada had spent several years working in Hong Kong.

But it was during her time in Edmonton where she was employed as a homecare worker that her life direction took another turn when she met and married her husband, Sydney native Chris Abbass. After another year in the Alberta capital, they packed up and, accompanied by cat King, made the long drive to Cape Breton.

And while the island may be known for its poor economy and high unemployment rates, de Loyola sees it more as a land of opportunity that is inhabited by nice people.

“I love it here, I love the people, everybody is so kind,” said the bubbly de Loyola, who has become well-known at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, where she works in the housekeeping department.

“But I am going back to school to upgrade my nursing so I can work as a nurse again — I will go to Cape Breton University and then hopefully be back at the hospital.”

Before heading back to the Philippines last week, the 38-year-old also worked parttime at the Membertou Tim Hortons to earn some extra cash to help pay for the airline tickets that will see her return to Sydney with her sons.

And when she does return, her husband will be there waiting to meet the new additions to his family.

“I’m really excited — I have an

adult son, who I love dearly, but I missed many of his growing-up years when I was working out West, so this is another chance to be a father figure, to be there for her boys,” said Abbass.

“It’s going to be lots of fun showing them what life is like here in Cape Breton — I think they’re going to like it, maybe not the cold, but I think they’ll like the snow, they’ve never seen it.”

Due to their mother’s unrelenting diligence and never-give-up attitude, the two Filipino teens will arrive in Canada as permanent residents, a status awarded to de Loyola and her sons earlier this year.

And while they are coming to a country they’ve never visited, the boys, whose native tongue is the Spanish- and English-influenced Tagalog, both speak English and

one even speaks Mandarin. They will also be welcomed by the area’s growing Filipino population. De Loyola, whose friends include many lifelong Cape Bretoners, makes it a point to stay connected with other Filipinos, who are estimated to number more than 200 in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

“They are nervous to come, but they are excited also — we have

been talking and dreaming of this for a very long time,” she said.

“And it will be easier for them because they are good friends, too, and are very close in age, so they will have each other, too.”

The boys will also be greeted by an aunt who is flying from her home in Switzerland to Sydney to spend time with her sister and nephews.

De Loyola and her sons arrive in Sydney later this month.

DAVID JALA/CAPE BRETON POST Ruby de Loyola spends a few final moments with husband Chris Abbass before embarking on the first leg of flight to the Philippines. The Sydney resident will return later this month with her two teenaged sons. De Loyola has not seen the boys for almost...

DAVID JALA/CAPE BRETON POST Sydney resident Ruby de Loyola checks in for the first leg of her flight to the Philippines last week at the Halifax airport. The 38-year-old, who recently became a permanent resident in Canada, will return with her two teenaged sons, who she has not...