Help sought to locate missing Pinay helper in Jeddah



A Filipina domestic worker in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been reported missing by her relatives in the Philippines who are hoping that she will not be the next Joanna Demafelis.
"Hindi nga namin alam kung ano ang nangyari sa kanya, kung buhay pa o... sana ay buhay pa," said Ric Burlaza, brother of missing OFW Nilda Bongar, in a report by GMA News' Mark Salazar on 24 Oras on Tuesday.
Demafelis, an OFW in Kuwait who had been missing for more than a year, was found dead earlier this month in a freezer in an apartment previously occupied by her employer.
Bongar, a widow who has four children in Pangasinan, has been missing for a year and five months, according to her family. Her employer had reportedly told Saudi Police in September 2016 that she ran away.
Bongar's family doubts she escaped from her employers, especially since she once told them how she is being maltreated by them.
"Kapag dumadating daw 'yung amo niyang lalaki, kinukulong siya sa kuwarto nung asawang babae," Burlaza said. "Nagseselos lang siguro daw. Hindi niya alam ang dahilan."
Burlaza said he has reported about his sister's case to various government agencies in the Philippines but so far there was hardly an update from them. 
Extending assistance to Bongar's family is the Blas Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization that helps distressed OFWs and their families.
"Hindi alam ng embassy kung nasaan. Hindi alam ng agencies niya," said Susan Ople, the group's founder and president.
"Kaya with the help of the media gusto sana namin na 'yung Filipino community natin sa Jeddah at Riyadh, baka puwedeng ma-mobilize."
Based on their last communication with Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Adnan Alonto, the embassy has issued a missing person advisory to the Saudi media as well as to the Filipino community as part of efforts to locate Bongar.
Meanwhile, the welfare officer of Zontar Manpower Services Incorporated, which deployed Bongar, said there are already efforts on their part to locate Bongar.
The agency also promised to shoulder the expenses if ever one of Bongar's children wanted to go to Saudi Arabia to help search for her. —KBK, GMA News

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