How far can you go with your relationship that you built through social media?
Dating online and falling in love with someone you met on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other online dating sites is no longer new and surprising to the society today. It has actually become the trend and many technology enthusiasts say that this is the future of the world – almost everything is now done on the internet.
Building a relationship online is no longer new. In fact, many meaningful and successful relationships today have blossomed from social media.
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are not exempted from this phenomenon. They are actually the most involved groups because they often use the social media as their means of communication and relaxation.
One OFW in Saudi in the person of Vengel Serrano fell in love with a lady named Ritchelle Baldoza whom she met on Facebook. Serrano admitted he fell in love with Baldoza and both started a relationship which was sweet in the beginning. They never met personally but Serrano was so in love and started planning for their future because he wanted to build a family soon.
After some time, Serrano planned for their wedding, which Baldoza agreed. According to Serrano, his girlfriend proposed they would buy piglets and raise them so they could butcher them on their wedding. Serrano agreed and started sending money to Baldoza to buy piglets and to buy food to raise them. Baldoza’s parents were the ones raising the pigs.
But things changed. After few months, Baldoza changed her mind and wanted to break up with Serrano. They broke up and cancelled the wedding. She sold the pigs and gave back Php25,000 to Serrano upon his request. But Serrano thought PhP25,000 was way too low compared to the total amount of money he sent to her, which he computed to have reached a total of more or less than Php 70,000.
He went home to know what was happening, what made Baldoza changed her mind. He went to Raffy Tulfo to ask his assistance to collect all the money he sent to Baldoza because he suspected Baldoza and her parents are scammers.
Tulfo arranged for Serrano and Baldoza to meet personally for the very first time and talk about their problem. After the confrontation, Baldoza agreed to return the money to Serrano.
Both Serrano and Baldoza admitted that there was a very important component in a relationship that they lacked and that was trust and knowing the person fully well before planning more serious matters.
This is a lesson for everyone. Though the social media is a platform for many meaningful and successful opportunities like business and relationships, meeting the person personally and knowing his or her family background and personality is very important to create lifelong relationships. Though there are extraordinary and rare relationships that prosper prior to meeting personally, it is still advisable that online relationships be verified before finally involving in serious money matters. – LMI
Source: Raffy Tulfo
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