OFW's body finally arrives from Saudi - after six months
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Emy Pepito/Photo courtesy of Migrante International
The nightmare that hounded the family of an overseas Filipino worker for more than six months is over. Their kin returned Monday afternoon from Saudi Arabia.
However, Emy Pepito had no gifts or “pasalubong” to give his family. The only box his family would be bringing home contained his remains.
“Noong una hindi kami maniwala na ganoon [ang] nangyari,” said his sister Charito Pepito-Villanueva when they were informed of his brother’s death through his colleague.
According to Migrante International, an alliance of migrant organizations assisting Pepito’s family, the OFW died on November 12, 2008 in Jeddah. He was reportedly buried alive in sand mixed with boiling asphalt while working on the foundation of a building.
“Naihabol pa daw sa ospital pero di na umabot,” said Villanueva during a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com.
It took six months before the remains of the 29-year-old OFW in the morgue were repatriated. According to Migrante, some of the alleged reasons for the delay were due to the failure of his employer to cooperate and to process the papers for the release of his body.
A native of Ozamiz City, Pepito left the Philippines to work as a construction worker in Jeddah in 2006 with the hopes of improving the lives of loved ones back home.
His sister, their mother and a cousin were assisted by members of Migrante at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when the family fetched his body which arrived on board a Saudi Airlines flight 872. The group said the plane arrived around 1 p.m. Monday.
Before heading to the airport, Migrante International held a protest-dialogue Monday morning in front of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office in Pasay City to press for government’s assistance to the OFW’s family.
“Maganda naman ang kinalabasan ng dialogue. Nailabas lahat ang mga lehitimong karaingan ng pamilya,” said Migrante’s chairperson Garry Martinez.
Martinez said the family was worried that they would not be able to afford a decent burial for their kin or even bring his remains home once it arrives because of financial difficulties.
Martinez said the head of the OWWA’s repatriation office promised to shoulder the expenses of the Pepito family on their way back to their hometown in Mindanao.
“Yong nanay mag-eeroplano tapos ‘yong apat magbabarko,” said Martinez.
He added that if found that Pepito died from work-related accident, his family will get around P200,000. However, if his death was due to natural causes, his beneficiaries would only get P180,000.
Migrante also cited the cases of Eduardo Reyes who reportedly died in Riyadh last March 6, 2009 and Marilou Macam who died last November 23, 2008. The families of both OFWs continue to demand for the repatriation of the remains of their loved ones. Maria Aleta Nieva-Nishimori, abs-cbnNEWS
Emy Pepito/Photo courtesy of Migrante International
The nightmare that hounded the family of an overseas Filipino worker for more than six months is over. Their kin returned Monday afternoon from Saudi Arabia.
However, Emy Pepito had no gifts or “pasalubong” to give his family. The only box his family would be bringing home contained his remains.
“Noong una hindi kami maniwala na ganoon [ang] nangyari,” said his sister Charito Pepito-Villanueva when they were informed of his brother’s death through his colleague.
According to Migrante International, an alliance of migrant organizations assisting Pepito’s family, the OFW died on November 12, 2008 in Jeddah. He was reportedly buried alive in sand mixed with boiling asphalt while working on the foundation of a building.
“Naihabol pa daw sa ospital pero di na umabot,” said Villanueva during a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com.
It took six months before the remains of the 29-year-old OFW in the morgue were repatriated. According to Migrante, some of the alleged reasons for the delay were due to the failure of his employer to cooperate and to process the papers for the release of his body.
A native of Ozamiz City, Pepito left the Philippines to work as a construction worker in Jeddah in 2006 with the hopes of improving the lives of loved ones back home.
His sister, their mother and a cousin were assisted by members of Migrante at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when the family fetched his body which arrived on board a Saudi Airlines flight 872. The group said the plane arrived around 1 p.m. Monday.
Before heading to the airport, Migrante International held a protest-dialogue Monday morning in front of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office in Pasay City to press for government’s assistance to the OFW’s family.
“Maganda naman ang kinalabasan ng dialogue. Nailabas lahat ang mga lehitimong karaingan ng pamilya,” said Migrante’s chairperson Garry Martinez.
Martinez said the family was worried that they would not be able to afford a decent burial for their kin or even bring his remains home once it arrives because of financial difficulties.
Martinez said the head of the OWWA’s repatriation office promised to shoulder the expenses of the Pepito family on their way back to their hometown in Mindanao.
“Yong nanay mag-eeroplano tapos ‘yong apat magbabarko,” said Martinez.
He added that if found that Pepito died from work-related accident, his family will get around P200,000. However, if his death was due to natural causes, his beneficiaries would only get P180,000.
Migrante also cited the cases of Eduardo Reyes who reportedly died in Riyadh last March 6, 2009 and Marilou Macam who died last November 23, 2008. The families of both OFWs continue to demand for the repatriation of the remains of their loved ones. Maria Aleta Nieva-Nishimori, abs-cbnNEWS
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