Our helper went back to her province today. We all know about it because she already asked for my parents’ permission a month ago. But what we did not know is that she’s been stealing things and money from us since day 1 (I think) not until my mom caught her in the act.

My mom saw my bag that I bought from Vigan, my accessories with sentimental value that I covered with a zip-locked plastic and a new face powder given by my aunt, a dermatologist, in her bag. She confronted our helper about it. Our helper asked for forgiveness so my mom just ignored what she did and forgave her right away.

Since she has this history of stealing from us, before she went home, my mom did not hesitate to inspect her bag and clothes she’s wearing. Actually, my mom does that ever since to our helpers. You may think that it’s improper but that’s her rules, anyways. She’s just doing that to make sure that our helpers don’t steal anything from us even if it’s a single strand of a thread from our clothes. My mom is a generous person BUT you have to ask for her permission if you want to get something. Stealing is against the 10 commandments – that’s what she taught us since we were kids.

You know what my mom saw this time? A new cellphone, a money that’s worth P2,700.00, a pack of medicine tablets, my sports bra and othersss. My mom asked her where she got it. She lied the first time she was asked but with my mom’s follow-up questions, her answers became contradicting and so my mom got really suspicious. I swear, you really can not lie to my mom that’s why I grew up not lying to her because I know what she’s capable of. Haha! She’s the typical military-like disciplinarian parent. Anyway, back to the story. She insisted her to admit where she really got all those things and then finally, she admitted that she stole those from us. She brought a second-hand cellphone using the money she stole from my mom’s bag. The money that she stole, according to her, was worth P7,000. Whoa!

Now, everything’s clear. We already know the reason why our mom used to ask us about the money in her wallet because she can’t remember if she lost or misplaced it. Although I do not believe that that’s the only amount she stole from us, it’s good that she’s really scheduled to go home today because if it was extended, I am sure that there are more things that she can get from us. What a professional!

What’s really disappointing from what happened is that we treated her like a family. We did not make her feel that she’s a maid, a helper or a low person. My mom treated her like her own daughter and that was how she returned the gratitude. My mom actually wanted to send her to the police station but because she still pities her despite what happened, she just asked my dad to drop her off at the bus station.

When she left, my mom told us, “Kahit ganon ginawa nya sa akin, naaawa pa rin ako sa batang iyon. Siguro nagawa nya yun dahil nga sa hirap ng buhay nila… Kawawang bata.” I actually feel what my mom feels. I still pity her. I didn’t get mad at her, you know.

When I watch news about someone robbing the bank or snatching cellphone from a person, their reason is always because of poverty. For me, you can do a lot of things just to earn without committing a crime. If there’s a will, there’s a way. These people should put in their minds that they should not make such crimes an option to survive. Stealing is not an excuse. I hope our ex-helper and those people like her would repent about the bad things they have done in their lives and start anew.

I remember someone telling me this: “Hindi sa lahat ng oras dapat pairalin ang pagiging tama. Hindi sa lahat ng oras yun tamang gawin ang dapat mong gawin…”

I, of course, disagree. I have always believed in this saying, “Doing what is right is always the right thing to do.” And let me just add something: because every good and right things that you do will always come back to you…