OWWA officials in hot water over Filipina found in freezer


ABS-CBN News
Posted at Feb 13 2018 08:11 AM
Demafelis' mother Eva holds up a photo of her slain daughter. Regi Adosto, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Tuesday said he has demanded an explanation from Philippine officials in Kuwait who allegedly took no action over the disappearance of a Filipina worker who was eventually found dead in a freezer. 
Bello last week confirmed the death of Filipina maid Joanna Daniela Demafelis. Her body had torture marks and was found stored in a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait, where it may have been kept for over a year. 
The family of Demafelis said they lost contact with her as early as February of 2017 and that they sought help from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to locate her. 
"Ang sagot ng ating welfare officer daw, 'Maghintay-hintay ka. Hindi pa nakikita ang tambak na papel sa harap niya,'" he told DZMM. 
"Kahapon, nag-issue ako ng memo for them to explain their inaction na presented by the sister of Joanna," he added.
(Our welfare officer allegedly told them, "Just wait, I have to finish this paperwork. Yesterday, I issued a memo for for them to explain their inaction as presented by the sister of Joanna.) 
OWWA officials will face a recall order and administrative charges if their alleged neglect of duty is proven, Bello said. 
Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv
OWWA had said its officials did their best to contact the 29-year-old Demafelis, but failed to reach her since her agency had already closed down. 
Kuwaiti officials and Interpol are tracking down the Filipina's employers: a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife. 
President Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out at Kuwait, as he brandished photos of Demafelis, saying she had been "roasted like a pig". 
The Philippines on Monday announced a "total ban" on sending Kuwait-bound OFWs, including those who had already obtained employment permits but had not yet left for the wealthy oil-producing country. 
Authorities say 252,000 Filipinos work in the Gulf state, many as maids. They are among over 2 million employed in the region, whose remittances are a lifeline to the Philippine economy.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said authorities were repatriating 10,000 overstaying Filipinos from Kuwait, taking advantage of an amnesty program arranged with the Kuwaiti government. With a report from Agence France-Presse 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more