RP Embassy in Malaysia assists pregnant Filipina in

The Philippine Embassy in Malaysia has assisted a pregnant Filipina, who asked to be repatriated due to her condition, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported Wednesday.

Philippine Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Victoriano M. Lecaros reported that the Filipina worker, who gave birth to a baby boy last September 24 at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, had been under the embassy's custody for the past 18 days.

"The OFW came to Malaysia as a tourist in October 2005. She told the Embassy that she worked as a singer at various clubs in Johor Bahru, which borders Singapore, until May 7, 2007 when her pregnancy started to become obvious. She initially stayed at a house of a friend until August 2007, when she approached the Johor Overseas Filipino Association (JOFA), a Filipino community organization in Johor Bahru," Lecaros said in the report.

He said that the group brought her to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The OFW claimed that her passport was taken by her agent, who is a foreign national and who had left Malaysia for good.

When the OFW arrived at the Embassy on the night of 06 September 2007, she sought assistance for her repatriation to the Philippines. However, she was already 37 weeks pregnant and, because of her advanced stage of pregnancy, air travel was not possible.

In this regard, the OFW was provided temporary shelter at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC), a skills training center for OFWs managed by the Office of the Labor Attache of the Embassy. The Embassy attended to the OFW while waiting for her date of delivery.

On September 11th and 19th, Assistance-to-Nationals (ATM) Officer Jerico N. Redito, OWWA Administrative Assistant Brenda D. Olinares, and DSWD Administrative Assistant Latifa Bonajal, accompanied the OFW to a clinic for pre-natal consultations. These officers also counseled the OFW, a first-time mother, and helped her prepare for the delivery of her baby.

Then on September 25, 2007, Vice Consul Shirlene C. Mananquil, Social Welfare Attache Nestor B. Ramos and DSWD Administrative Assistant Bonjal facilitated the discharge of the OFW and her baby from the hospital. Both were then taken to the FWRC for temporary shelter. The OFW and her baby will continue to stay at the FWRC until the infant is certified fit to travel to the Philippines.

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