Highlights
- PM Scott Morrison has announced that beginning July, international students could be let back into the country on a "pilot basis".
- Joey Espino and her husband Kris have been stuck in the Philippines for three months.
- The two had to let go of the apartment they have been renting and Joey had to take a leave of absence from school.
International student Joey Espino and her husband Kris were only planning to take a breather in their hometown of Iloilo for three weeks; but as luck would have it, their three-week vacation turned into three months.
"Our trip was only supposed to be from February 23 to March 15, then the lockdown happened."
"When President Duterte announced on March 12 that there would be a shut down of domestic flights, we rushed to have our flight re-booked so we can fly to Manila. There were so many people who wanted to re-book," Joey shares.
They soon found out that international flights were affected as well. They were forced to decide to head to Manila and wait if they could get a flight back to Melbourne or to stay in Iloilo.
"Our trip was only supposed to be from February 23 to March 15, then the lockdown happened." Source: Joey Espino
"We only had a 50 per cent chance of flying out. We called up our parents and asked them what we should do. We only had enough money for our vacation and we don't have a bank account in the Philippines. Our mums said to just stay in Iloilo instead of getting stuck in Manila with nowhere to go.
"We didn't know if we wanted to cry or scream, but we had to have presence of mind to make the right decision. We decided to stay in Iloilo. We were depressed for a month."
While stuck in the Philippines, Joey, who had been studying law at Victoria University, was forced to take a leave of absence.
Joey in Melbourne Central, pre-pandemic. Source: Joey Espino
"The options given to me by the uni were: to take a leave of absence or to continue studying remotely. The internet connection in the Philippines is bad. I've had a bad experience with it when I had to take my assessments here due to an emergency trip. I decided to take a leave of absence instead."
Aside from taking a leave of absence, the couple had to let go of the apartment they were renting as well.
"Our landlord told us it would be such a waste if no one was living in the unit. We are lucky, our friends who are in Melbourne got all of our things and helped us vacate. We're so thankful.
"We are lucky - our friends who are in Melbourne got all of our things and helped us vacate. We're so thankful." Source: Joey Espino
"We had to still pay rent up until April and we had to pay our bills until early June. We explained that we had no source of income anymore. So instead of using up all of our savings, we opted to give up our place."
Despite the difficulties, the couple remains hopeful that things will change in the next few months, especially with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's announcement that international students will be let back in on a "pilot basis" from July.
"We're hopeful that we can come back. We've been keeping up to date with the news on international students. We're hopeful," Joey shares.
"We're hopeful that we can come back." Source: Joey Espino
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