Family says foul play, not suicide, caused OFW's death
MANILA, Philippines - The family of a deceased Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeking justice for what they feel is a cover-up of the real cause of death of the migrant worker.
OFW Evelyn Milo’s family does not believe that she committed suicide by jumping off a building in Abu Dhabi in the UAE on August 10. Her remains arrived in the Philippines on August 19.
According to an exclusive report from Ian Cruz of GMA’s Unang Balita, the OFW’s family said that she hasn’t been buried yet because of the lack of support from placement agency that sent Evelyn abroad and the Philippine government.
She has been in her wake in Singalong, Manila for almost a week now.
Evelyn’s mother, Thelma, told Cruz that she saw signs of foul play on her daughter’s body. She said that there were bruises on her legs and what looked like strangle and stab marks on her chest.
Thelma is asking for justice for her daughter’s allegedly suspicious death.
"Sa kutob ko po bilang magulang, may gumawa ng ‘di maganda sa anak ko. Di po gagawin ng anak ko iyan – magpakamatay (My intuition as a mother says that somebody did something terrible to my daughter. My daughter would never commit suicide)," she said.
The OFW’s mother asked the Philippine government to pay some attention to Evelyn’s case.
Meanwhile, Anita Macalintal, Evelyn’s aunt said that if one were to jump off a building, he or she wouldn’t be recognizable, something which the dead OFW was.
“Pero ano ibig sabihin nung mga pasa-pasa? (But what do the bruises mean?)," she asked.
Evelyn’s family is now waiting for the report of the autopsy that the National Bureau of Investigation conducted.
Just recently, Migrante International urged the government to look into the apparent rise in suicides by Filipino workers in the UAE. It said in a statement that seven Filipinos had committed suicide in the Mideastern country in the first eight months of the year.
“It's not normal that seven Filipinos would commit suicide in eight months. We want (the Philippine authorities in the UAE) to find out why they are committing suicide," Nhel Morona, secretary-general of Migrante-UAE, said in the statement.
The group was surprised that despite the sudden dramatic increase in OFW, government officials in the Emirates have done nothing but declare the cause of deaths as suicide.
Morona said they have records of a case of a man who allegedly hanged himself on February 4 and a woman named Norayda Ayuman who was reported jumped from the 7th floor of a building and died on February 6.
Five more OFWs allegedly attempted to kill themselves by jumping off buildings. They were Jeffrey Alberto So, Mitos Vergara, Remedios Waayan , Myrna Baylosis, and Evelyn Lilo.
Philippine authorities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai previously said they could only confirm three suicide cases while all the confirmed cases were in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
"We don't know whether they were accidents, suicides or foul play," Philippine consul-general in Abu Dhabi Noel Servigon had said.
The Philippine consul general in Dubai, Benito Valeriano, said that naturally, they are concerned when citizens commit suicide but also said that there was not much that they could do to prevent such things from happening.
"Suicides can happen to anybody, regardless of religion and culture. It's a person's own decision," he had been quoted in reports as saying.
Valeriano added that Philippine Overseas Labor Offices offer counseling but that these people don't go there for help and just suffer in silence."- Kimberly Jane Tan, GMANews.TV
OFW Evelyn Milo’s family does not believe that she committed suicide by jumping off a building in Abu Dhabi in the UAE on August 10. Her remains arrived in the Philippines on August 19.
According to an exclusive report from Ian Cruz of GMA’s Unang Balita, the OFW’s family said that she hasn’t been buried yet because of the lack of support from placement agency that sent Evelyn abroad and the Philippine government.
She has been in her wake in Singalong, Manila for almost a week now.
Evelyn’s mother, Thelma, told Cruz that she saw signs of foul play on her daughter’s body. She said that there were bruises on her legs and what looked like strangle and stab marks on her chest.
Thelma is asking for justice for her daughter’s allegedly suspicious death.
"Sa kutob ko po bilang magulang, may gumawa ng ‘di maganda sa anak ko. Di po gagawin ng anak ko iyan – magpakamatay (My intuition as a mother says that somebody did something terrible to my daughter. My daughter would never commit suicide)," she said.
The OFW’s mother asked the Philippine government to pay some attention to Evelyn’s case.
Meanwhile, Anita Macalintal, Evelyn’s aunt said that if one were to jump off a building, he or she wouldn’t be recognizable, something which the dead OFW was.
“Pero ano ibig sabihin nung mga pasa-pasa? (But what do the bruises mean?)," she asked.
Evelyn’s family is now waiting for the report of the autopsy that the National Bureau of Investigation conducted.
Just recently, Migrante International urged the government to look into the apparent rise in suicides by Filipino workers in the UAE. It said in a statement that seven Filipinos had committed suicide in the Mideastern country in the first eight months of the year.
“It's not normal that seven Filipinos would commit suicide in eight months. We want (the Philippine authorities in the UAE) to find out why they are committing suicide," Nhel Morona, secretary-general of Migrante-UAE, said in the statement.
The group was surprised that despite the sudden dramatic increase in OFW, government officials in the Emirates have done nothing but declare the cause of deaths as suicide.
Morona said they have records of a case of a man who allegedly hanged himself on February 4 and a woman named Norayda Ayuman who was reported jumped from the 7th floor of a building and died on February 6.
Five more OFWs allegedly attempted to kill themselves by jumping off buildings. They were Jeffrey Alberto So, Mitos Vergara, Remedios Waayan , Myrna Baylosis, and Evelyn Lilo.
Philippine authorities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai previously said they could only confirm three suicide cases while all the confirmed cases were in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
"We don't know whether they were accidents, suicides or foul play," Philippine consul-general in Abu Dhabi Noel Servigon had said.
The Philippine consul general in Dubai, Benito Valeriano, said that naturally, they are concerned when citizens commit suicide but also said that there was not much that they could do to prevent such things from happening.
"Suicides can happen to anybody, regardless of religion and culture. It's a person's own decision," he had been quoted in reports as saying.
Valeriano added that Philippine Overseas Labor Offices offer counseling but that these people don't go there for help and just suffer in silence."- Kimberly Jane Tan, GMANews.TV
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