My mother-in-law sold all her land and house to pay off her eldest brother’s gambling debts. A month later, she had to rent a house with a small pension… My mother-in-law was the most “powerful” woman in the family. The entire land of almost 300m², the spacious three-story house in Novaliches, TCT was registered in the name of Nanay Gloria; Everything she said, the whole family listened to her. But everything started to change when Kuya Rommel—the eldest son—got involved in gambling.
At first, the loan was only a few tens of thousands of pesos, then hundreds of thousands. The more she lost, the more she threw herself into it. Nanay Gloria pawned TCT, sold all her jewelry… then sold the land and the house to “save her son one last time”, crying and saying:
— He is her own flesh and blood, the eldest son, can I stand by and watch him die?
After selling the house, she moved into an old rented room in a Caloocan alley—a room barely big enough for a bed and a rickety wooden cabinet. The SSS pension is about ₱7,000/month, and the rent is about half of that. Every time I approach her, she smiles:
— I’m used to living simply, no one should suffer…
I’m the youngest daughter-in-law, and for many years I lived with my mother-in-law and I wasn’t pampered; all the nice things she gave were to Kuya Rommel and his wife. But this time… I felt sorry for her.
I didn’t tell Miguel, nor did I discuss this with anyone. I quietly returned to my mother-in-law’s rented room, placed a mini camera the size of a fingertip in the corner of the room, hidden in an old wall clock. I left my second phone connected—just to make sure she was safe. That night, I witnessed a scene that sent chills down my spine.
Around 1:00 a.m., my cellphone kept vibrating, alerting me to movement. I opened it: my mother-in-law’s door was slightly open from the outside. A dark figure wearing a hat entered. He was fast asleep, unaware.
The figure was circling everywhere. He opened the drawer under the bed, took out an envelope, and counted the money. Then… bent down to kiss my mother-in-law on the forehead—a familiar gesture. I zoomed in on the frame and was stunned: it was Kuya Rommel.
I bit my lip, dizzy. According to him, selling the house and paying off his debts wasn’t enough. He hadn’t even thrown out his small pension.
The next morning, I quietly sent the video to the family group on Messenger. Without a word. In less than five minutes, the whole family had exploded.
Brother Rommel was called by his own mother, slapped in the face in front of his relatives:
— I lost everything because of you, and now you are coming back to take every cent from me?
The whole family gathered, announced that they would cut off all rights to the inheritance (pamana) and exclude him from death anniversaries and family meetings until he truly repented. As for me… I just stood in the back, saying nothing.
That night, Mother Gloria called me, her hands shaking as she put the old savings book/passbook in my hands:
I apologize for being biased all these years; Now I know who is sincere.
I smiled, did not accept the book, and simply said:
I don’t need the book anymore, Mother, I just want you to sleep soundly.
That night, my mother-in-law slept soundly for the first time in years.
For me—for the first time, I felt like a daughter-in-law… in the truest sense.