Kate Mendoza (left), Marilou Awo (inset) and the winners from Dubai (right) at the awarding ceremony in LBC Express' Satwa branch on December 16, 2023. JONATHAN YBERA/EXPAT MEDIA

A Filipina working in Kuwait is now richer by P500,000 (Dh32,876) after winning the grand prize in the LBC Panalo sa Padala raffle draw that also saw Filipinos in Dubai win major prizes. “It was my first time to send a balikbayan box home. I never imagined I would win half a million pesos,” Kate Mendoza told Expat Media via Zoom call at the winners’ conference held at the LBC Express branch in Dubai on Saturday evening (December 16), which was attended by Allan Michael Bautista, Head of Sales & Marketing for Middle East Operations at LBC Express, and LBC executives. Watch the video here “On the night of the draw, I received at least three calls, one from the LBC agent who picked up my box and told me I won,” said Mendoza, who works as a saleslady and florist in the Farwaniya district of Kuwait City where she has lived in the last four years. She sent chocolates and gifts for her family via LBC Express for just 15 Kuwait dinars (Dh180) last November, which automatically entered her into the LBC Panalo sa Padala draw last December 9. A balikbayan box is a care box that Overseas Filipino Workers can send tax-free to their families to the Philippines. What does Mendoza plan to do with her winnings? “I will use the money to pay the mortgage on the land my family bought,” she told Expat Media. Another Filipina in Kuwait also won a major prize in the same draw. Marilou Awo, a household worker, won a Suzuki Burgman Street Scooter after sending two balikbayan boxes last October. It was also her first time to send balikbayan boxes home. Awo, who has worked in Kuwait in the last 15 months, said she is giving the scooter to her children in the Philippines. “I feel very happy that I am one of those who won a scooter. It will be a big help to my children, who are still studying,” Awo told Expat Media via Zoom call. The Davao Del Sur native has a daughter in college, and two younger children in high school and elementary.

Filipinos in Dubai win prizes

Meanwhile, two Filipinos in Dubai claimed their prizes at the LBC winners’ awarding ceremony on Saturday. Jalex Baylen, a 25-year-old financial auditor, and Jerome John Sagusay, a 48-year-old nurse, told Expat Media they were ecstatic about winning. Baylen won a Suzuki scooter. “It is my first time to win anything, and on the day that I won, my family visited me here in Dubai,” she told Expat Media. The Filipina said she got lucky after sending a box last October 5. Sagusay won a washing machine, which he immediately sent to his family on Saturday night. “I regularly send balikbayan boxes home to my family, and it was a bonus to join the draw after I sent three boxes from September to November,” he told Expat Media. Another Filipino also won a Dh500 gift voucher from Angel Wings travel agency, while a Filipino in Ras Al Khaimah won a laptop. ICA/Expat Media
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