“I was just eight years old when my father left us to work in Saudi Arabia,” said a sober Raymond Castaneda Sumayo, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as he plead for assistance to get information on the whereabouts of his father.
Buenaventura Barcelona Sumayo is Raymond’s father. The elder Sumayo, according to Raymond, would have been 65 years old by now.
An old photo of Saudi OFW Buenaventura Ali B. Sumayo
“It was in 1989 when my father left to work in Saudi Arabia as a driver for Supreme Foods Corporation,” Raymond added.
Raymond said that the last time their family received a letter from his father was in 1998. Since then, they have lost communication with him.
According to Raymond, his father, who had converted to Islam, used to send to his family recorded audio tapes at least twice a year - at that time, cell phones and electronic-mail were not available.
“Since then we have been longing to see my father especially my 57-year old mother. Until now we don’t have any idea where he is now or if he’s still alive,” Raymond averred.
Raymond approached me and sought help - hoping that by this write up, someone among the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia might have known his father or have information about his whereabouts.
“We really want to locate and see my father. We wanted him to be home and take good care of him since he’s old already,” Raymond pleaded.
The Sumayo family is from Malapag, Carmen, North Cotabato in the Southern Philippines.
For any information on the whereabouts of Buenaventura Ali Barcelona Sumayo, please contact us [email protected].
