The 47-year-old father of three says they were looking forward to a fresh start in a new country, with big hopes for a better life compared to what they had in the Philippines. But hardly had they stepped out of the airport that their problems began.

Milagros Cadano and husband Remigio

The family had just cleared immigration when Cadano went to a telephone booth to contact a family friend who will fetch them. He took along with him their luggage cart. He briefly turned his back on the cart to dial a number and when he looked back, their most important hand-carry bag was gone.

The bag contained their settlement money of US$10,794 (C$12,439), passports, permanent residency documents, marriage certificate, baptismal records, school transcripts of his three children and other important documents.

"It wasn’t even 15 seconds," Cadano could hardly believe what happened. "It wasn’t there anymore."

Police and airport authorities have told the Cadanos that they will review surveillance tapes in a bid to find out the felon.

"We saved that money for years," Cadano says.

The thief may have taken away their possessions but not the fighting spirit of the Cadanos.

Mrs. Cadano said that they can earn back the money and renew or get new copies of the documents they lost. What’s important, according to her, is that their family is already in Canada.

Ella Tancangco, a family friend, said that she hopes that the Cadanos can quickly recover from this misfortune. "My heart goes out for them," she said.

Thefts have become a regular occurrence at the airport, according to Claire MacNeil, a Filipino-Canadian. "There are a lot of complaints. We’ve heard it happens everyday," she said.

The Vancouver-based Multicultural Helping House Society is helping the family get new permanent residency papers as well as look for temporary housing for them.

The Cadanos are appealing for the return of their documents. They can be reached through telephone number 604-782-6853.