Sarah Balabagan Launches Fundraising to Redeem Her Child from Her Sibling
SARAH BALABAGAN – The former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) and singer faced a challenging situation involving the custody of her youngest child, Stephen.
In a detailed post on GoFundMe, she explained that while she was in the US, her brother took on the responsibility of caring for Stephen. This arrangement occurred when Sarah decided to stay in the U.S. following her unexpected marriage to Jun Sereno, which prevented her from returning to the Philippines immediately.
Originally, Sarah had planned to leave Stephen with a nanny, but her brother offered to care for him instead. Her brother’s offer seemed to be a gesture of gratitude, considering the financial support Sarah had provided to her brother’s family, including a significant share from earnings of a biopic based on her life, “The Sarah Balabagan Story.” Over the years, while Sarah and her husband consistently sent financial support for Stephen’s upkeep, they did not provide monthly maintenance, trusting her brother’s family with the child’s welfare.
However, when Sarah became a U.S. citizen and began the process of petitioning for Stephen to join her in the US, complications arose. Her brother and his wife started demanding compensation for the years they had looked after Stephen. Initially, they requested a total of ₱2.4 million (around $48,000), calculated at ₱20,000 per month for ten years. When negotiations ensued, the amount was halved to ₱1.2 million (approximately $24,000), with Sarah agreeing to a payment plan of ₱10,000 monthly over the next decade, as this was all she could afford given her part-time employment and family commitments in the U.S.
As Sarah awaited the scheduled embassy interview for Stephen’s petition, her brother refused to release Stephen unless the agreed sum was paid upfront. In response to this financial strain, Sarah initiated a fundraising effort to gather the necessary funds to secure her son’s custody.
