Wrong remains not our fault–DFA

DFA spokesman Charles Jose. AP FILE PHOTO

THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has washed its hands of the mistaken identity case that saw the remains of a Chinese national sent to the grieving family of an overseas Filipino worker who died in Israel.

DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said the family of 53-year-old Fernando Peralta, who died of a heart attack in Israel, received the wrong remains.

He said the incident was the first time for the DFA as the bodies of OFWs and the documents usually went through the Philippine embassies and consulates abroad before they were repatriated.

A radio report said the body shipped to Peralta’s family in Porac, Pampanga, turned out to be that of a Chinese man identified as Zhang Jun Yao from Pudong, China, which arrived on June 4 via Thai Airways.

Jose said the “correct remains of the OFW” were scheduled to arrive Wednesday on the same flight.

“The DFA had no shortcomings,” he told  a press briefing on Tuesday.

Jose said the family of the deceased OFW  informed the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv on June 4 that the body was not his.

He said the funeral parlor “has assumed responsibility” for the mistake and was coordinating with the Philippine embassy in Israel to ship the correct remains. Estrella Torres