DFA: Remains found in water tank in South Korea belongs to missing OFW from Iloilo

ILOILO CITY — The human skeletal remains found last month in a water tank in South Korea has been confirmed to be that of a missing overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from Cabatuan town in Iloilo, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official here confirmed.

Anita Saldo, officer-in-charge of the DFA-Iloilo consular office, said the skeletal remains belonged to Angelo Claveria who went missing in 2016.

Saldo said the confirmation was based on DNA tests conducted by South Korean authorities.

The samples taken from the skeletal remains matched those with samples taken from Angelita, mother of Angelo.

The remains were found in a water purifying tank of a factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province in South Korea and had indications of foul play, said Saldo, citing accounts from South Korean authorities from the South Korean consulate in Cebu who met with the victim’s family in Iloilo.

“Workers cleaning the tank found the bones wrapped up in a jacket on April 3.
Police said the skeleton’s left side was crushed, indicating something had hit the victim. Investigators believe this happened when the man was alive,” according to a report of the Korea Times.

South Korean investigators believed the victim was killed in another location before his body was dumped in the tank, the Korea Times reported.

The South Korean police are investigating the incident which is being treated as a criminal case and are eyeing another OFW as a suspect.

But the suspect was believed to have gone home in the Philippines.

Angelo, 34, left for South Korea in 2014 to work as a metal cutter.

Citing accounts of Claveria’s family, Saldo said Angelo stopped contacting his family in 2016.

His family sent him text messages and tried calling him but they only got cryptic replies to the messages and the calls were unanswered.

His Facebook account was also active but his activities were limited to “likes.”

The family was alerted with reports of the discovery of the skeletal remains in a factory.

The South Korean authorities assured the family of the speedy repatriation of the remains and continued investigation of the case, according to Saldo./lb