OWWA logo. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The remains of slain Jordan-based Filipino worker Mary Grace Santos will be brought to the Philippines on Saturday, October 21, said Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Arnell Ignacio.
Santos, a 34-year-old domestic helper for an elderly couple in Amman, was brutally killed by a minor Egyptian male early October.
“Nakausap na po namin ang pamilya niya at parating na si Mary Grace [Santos] [o] ang kanyang remains sa October 21,” said Ignacio over Radyo 630 on Friday.
(We’ve already spoken to her family and Mary Grace Santos or her remains will arrive on October 21.)
Santos’ mother, Maria Lisa Santos, earlier appealed to the Philippine government to facilitate the prompt return of her daughter’s remains.
Ignacio refused to further detail Santos’ brutal killing, but he said that she was raped and the cause of her death was barehand strangulation.
On October 11, Santos was reported missing in Amman, Jordan. Her body was found a day later in a still undisclosed place.
“Yung gumawa ng krimen ito, yung 16-year-old na bata ay nakakulong na po ‘yan. Naaresto na ‘yan,” said Ignacio.
(The one who committed this crime, the 16-year-old boy, is already in jail. He’s been arrested.)
Ignacio likewise disclosed that the Philippine government, through OWWA, is already in touch with Santos’ family. He said as part of the agency’s mandate, OWWA will extend full educational assistance to Santos’ children.
“Kami na po bahala sa lahat. Kami na rin po ang mag aayos ng kanyang funeral,” said Ignacio.
(We will take care of everything. We will also arrange her funeral.)