Cotabato exec working to repatriate remains of OFW who died in Bahrain



By WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA
KIDAPAWAN CITY —A local official of the Matalam town in North Cotabato is coordinating with the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain for the repatriation of the remains of an Overseas Filipino Worker who died in the Persian Gulf state last September 2019 after supposedly falling from a 3-storey apartment building.
Matalam town’s Vice Mayor Cheryl Valdevieso-Catamco told GMA News Online that she went to the Department of Foreign Affairs in General Santos City to follow up on the case of her constituent Raihana Mataya, 34, of Barangay Central Malamote, who allegedly died in last year's falling incident.
On September 25, 2019, Mataya fell from the 3rd Floor of the apartment in Bahrain that she was renting .  But the family of the victim informed Matalam authorities only last Tuesday (January 14).
“Had the family informed us right away, we would have extended assistance for the immediate return of the victim's remains,” Vice Mayor Catamco said.
According to Catamco, the parents informed her that Mataya's body is being kept at the morgue of one of the hospitals in Bahrain for the purposes of an ongoing court case stemming from the victim's death.
Catamco also quoted Mataya's mother as saying that a certain “Abdulah” has been charged in a Bahrain court for the OFW's death.
“That was according to the statement of the mother relayed to me when we talked about the case of Mataya last Tuesday,”  the official said.
Furthermore, Catamco said the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain is already aware of Mataya’s case and had pledged assistance for the immediate repatriation of her remains.
“We will extend all necessary assistance, including the transportation from Davao airport back to our town so that a decent burial under Muslim rites will be given to the victim,” said Catamco.
Mataya had worked Middle East for a long time. Records from the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) in Matalam show that her first deployment was in Damman and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
She was working as saleslady at a jewelry shop in Bahrain prior to her death. —LBG, GMA News

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