Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

For many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar, staying healthy and saving more money for their families back home top their 2013 New Year resolution list.
Some of them may have failed to keep their 2012 promises, but most female OFWs want to lose weight by either doing regular exercise or taking a balanced diet this year.
Two of them working for a leading airline – Officer administration Jo Ann Bautista Cuizon and Network operations co-ordinator Concepcion Peralta – have the same goal: eat right, exercise and lose weight. Peralta said she needs to lose 10-12 kilograms this year. “I’m quite heavy compared to my previous weight three years ago.”
She also wants to be precise, transparent and more approachable to everyone to avoid dispute and misunderstanding in the office and at home. Senior finance assistant Ronaldo Garcia said he wants to avoid things that puts him down by ignoring the bad and simply dwell on the positive ones.“My New Year’s resolution is to be more conscious of my current health condition. Being a diabetic and had suffered a myocardial infarction once, you will really never know when your time is up,” he said.
“We only live once and should appreciate God’s greatest gift which is life by sharing it with family, friends and people around us,” Garcia added.
Others tried to keep their promises last year but failed for some reasons. Finance Assistant Ma Rita Sheryl Aquino and Network Projects Co-ordinator Christine Martinez Lavidon seem to take saving money seriously this year.“Pero hindi yun nangyayari kasi palagi akong stressed kaya palagi ako napapagastos (but it did not happen because I’m always stressed that’s why I tend to spend more),” Aquino quipped.
Like other OFWs, executive secretary Honeylyn Sudate Fible said 2013 is another year of commitment, reforming habits and setting new goals. She said it is an opportunity to save more money. “You send it back home to make your parents and siblings happy, and me either.”
Since she intends to save more, Fible is thinking of investing her hard-earned money. Part of her New Year’s resolution is to sleep and wake up early so she won’t be late either in her work or in any appointment. Fible also wants to learn the Arabic language. She is one of the volunteers during the World Petroleum Conference and UN Climate Change Conference like teachers from the Philippine School of Doha.
Saying she was able to accomplish most of her New Year’s resolution in 2012, Fritzie Joanne Peñaloza believes that praying and asking for God’s help is effective. She said she felt relieved after forgiving those who have done bad things to her family. A sales agent, Peñaloza intends to continue helping her siblings who have already finished college.
Some may not have any New Year resolution like finance assistants Mylin J. Cabunillas and Joan Lopez Anduyo. However, they take it as a challenge to themselves. “I don’t have a New Year’s resolution. I believe that if you want to initiate a change in yourself, you can start anytime. It doesn’t have to be at the start of the year,” said Cabunillas.
Some take it lightly like fraud analyst Clarissa Mendoza: “My New Year’s resolution since I was born: To have a white complexion that is why I buy more (whitening) Papaya-soap. Every year, I bring Papaya soap to Qatar for personal use.”
Some want to touch the lives of other people while others want to spend time with their parents. “I want to give ample time to my mother,” said Senior finance assistant Maria Riza Zornoza.On the other hand, Fraud analyst Marizza Angeles said her New Year’s resolution is to “make a difference in the life of people especially the distressed OFW’s who are not lucky enough in their quest to have a better life.”