In two separate and tragically similar cases, one in Dubai and the other in the Philippines, the lives of two innocent Filipina women were forever altered by a single, horrifying act of violence: an acid attack.

Both incidents were born not from a direct conflict with the victims, but from the misplaced and explosive jealousy of a third party, a spurned lover seeking revenge. These stories are a chilling and heartbreaking look at how a moment of rage, fueled by a toxic relationship, can leave a lifetime of scars.

The Case of Annalyn Macarandan in Dubai

Annalyn Macarandan was a 48-year-old OFW, a dedicated and respected supervisor at a luxury resort in Abu Dhabi. She was a single woman, focused on her career and on supporting her family back home in the Philippines.

At her job, a younger Kenyan coworker, “Ben,” had pursued her romantically, but she had politely and firmly declined his advances due to their age difference and professional relationship. They remained friendly colleagues, and she thought nothing more of it.

In March 2018, that professional friendship would unwittingly place her in the path of a violent attack. After a group outing with coworkers, Annalyn realized Ben had accidentally taken her shoes. She arranged to go to his apartment to retrieve them.

While she was there, waiting for the bathroom to be free, a woman she had never seen before entered the room. Without a word, the woman threw the contents of a two-liter bottle at both Annalyn and Ben. The liquid was acid.

Annalyn’s face and arms were immediately consumed by a searing, unimaginable pain. In the chaotic aftermath, the attacker, revealed to be Ben’s girlfriend, accompanied them to the hospital, crying and apologizing. Her confession was immediate: she had seen Annalyn in her boyfriend’s room and, in a fit of jealous rage, assumed they were having an affair.

The attack left Ben with injuries, but Annalyn bore the brunt of the assault, suffering second and third-degree burns that left her permanently disfigured and legally blind.

The attacker was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to seven years in a Dubai prison. For Annalyn’s family, the sentence felt like a gross injustice for a crime that had inflicted a lifetime of suffering. But in an incredible act of grace, Annalyn herself, while facing a future of darkness and countless reconstructive surgeries, publicly stated that she had forgiven her attacker.

The Case of “Glory” in Pasay City

A similar story of a toxic love triangle and a misdirected act of vengeance unfolded in a Pasay City mall in July 2019. “Glory,” a 27-year-old sales clerk, was at work when she was approached by a man named Ramon.

The two spoke calmly, then walked together toward a back entrance of the mall. Moments later, Glory’s piercing screams echoed through the area. Ramon had thrown a chemical, a powerful alkali, directly into her face.

The attack was swift and devastating, leaving Glory in agonizing pain and at risk of permanent blindness. The investigation that followed unraveled a complex and deceitful love triangle. The man at the center of it was Glory’s boyfriend, a security guard named John Ray. What Glory didn’t know was that John Ray had been in a long-term secret relationship with Ramon.

When Glory discovered the truth, she ended her relationship with John Ray. However, he managed to convince her that he had broken things off with Ramon and that he wanted to be with her. She gave him a second chance, unaware that he was telling Ramon the exact same story.

When a heartbroken and enraged Ramon finally learned that he had been deceived, he did not confront the man who had lied to him. Instead, he directed his rage at the woman he saw as his rival.

After a manhunt, Ramon was arrested in the Bicol region, where he had fled after the attack. He confessed, consumed by what he described as the pain of a “wrongful love.” The case is a tragic testament to the destructive power of deceit, where the person who caused all the pain, John Ray, walked away unscathed, leaving his two lovers—one physically and emotionally scarred for life, and the other facing a future in prison—to pay the ultimate price for his lies.