MANILA, Philippines — The initial report of the re-autopsy on the remains of a household service worker who recently died in Kuwait showed “no signs of force on the body,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Wednesday.
However, Bello noted that the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on 47-year-old Ma. Constancia Dayag still needs additional background about the death of the overseas Filipino worker.
“Meron nang initial report…nakausap ko mismo [‘yong] nag-conduct ng autopsy kay Ms. Dayag, according to her, the finding is not yet final and complete because she has to get a background of what happened. So she needs a police report from Kuwait,” the labor chief told reporters before the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the annual Independence Day job fair in Manila.
Quoting the autopsy report, Bello said Dayag’s body was clear of abrasion and “signs of force.”
“Wala siyang nakitang abrasion sa katawan, no signs of force on the body,” he said.
Bello said in an earlier statement last May 17 that initial reports reaching his office indicated that Dayag’s body bore “various contusions and hematoma, with a ‘cucumber’ inside her private part” when she was brought to the Al Sabah Hospital in Kuwait.
READ: OFW dies in Kuwait; ‘cucumber’ found inside her private part – DOLE
The DOLE has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a second autopsy on the remains of Dayag which may provide “a clearer view of the circumstances surrounding her death.”
READ: DOLE asks NBI for second autopsy on slain OFW
Bello however, noted that the recent findings is still not “conclusive.”
“Unang una, sobra na ang decomposition nung katawan, which is why they want to find out bakit bago nakarating sa ospital, bakit ganun katagal bago naipadala yung labi ni Ms. Dayag, and that’s very critical,” he said.
“Kasi if you recall nung mangyari ‘yon, Ramadan, so yung istorya na three days bago nakita yung kanyang katawan, medyo imposible yan. Kasi household service worker yan, so kada ora yan dapat hinanap, eh three days, di ako maniwala [na] hindi makita,” he added.
Bello, meanwhile, noted the Kuwaiti government’s effort to help with Dayag’s case.
However, he did not elaborate specifically on what actions are being taken by the Kuwaiti government on the matter.
“What is important, in fairness to Kuwait, eh they’re doing something, to me that’s fair enough, kasi kaya ako nagbigay ng strong statement non, three days nang may namatay nating kababayan, wala man lang statement from them, so I had to make strong statement,” Bello said.
“We cannot allow our workers to be killed without any action from the foreign country where they’re working,” he added.
Bello said in a previous statement that he was “taking the Kuwaiti Government to task for the gruesome death of yet another Filipino worker in the hands of her employer in Kuwait.”
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“Aside from the apparent violation of the agreement on the protection of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) between our government and Kuwait, there appears to have been a breach of the employment contract by the foreign employer,” he earlier said. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)