Foreign affairs

The penchant of Filipinos for the imported is not limited to material things. They also look for contentment, happiness and love abroad.

Through social media, 74-year-old widow Aida Real met a potential partner who

introduced himself as a retired US Army general. After telling him of her status and the small business she runs, the American went on courtship mode.

Not long after, the ex-soldier offered to marry Real and send her dollars before going to the Philippines to personally meet her. The money he wanted to remit was the equivalent of P2 million, which Real found too much.

The amount was actually too good to be true. The general told the Filipina retiree that the remittance could be released to her by shouldering the P200,000 processing fee. That got Real suspicious.

Upon consulting his son and the National Bureau of Investigation, Real was convinced that it was a scam. Had she sent P200,000 to the scammer’s accomplice to “process” the release of the P2 million remittance, she would have lost her money and ended up empty handed in the online “love scam” modus. Fortunately, caution prevailed for Real and she avoided getting swindled.

Emma was in a similar situation like Real, leaving her home in Taiwan last 8 June to find her luck in Japan. It was a bold move, but Emma has matchmaker friends to help her find a suitable partner and build a family.

With her mild personality and slender physique, Emma was actually chosen over 22 others to have an all-expense paid opportunity to find a romantic companion, according to Sean Wu, who works as chief veterinarian and animal manager at the Saitama Tobu Zoo outside Tokyo.

The matchmakers already have one prospective partner for Emma named Moran. They are excited for the two despite still in their acquaintance stage.

If Emma and Moran click, mate and reproduce, it would spell another success for increasing their number, especially since she is a rare white rhinoceros.