Ailing Filipina dies before fleeing Syria

One of 12 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who opted to be repatriated to the Philippines Thursday afternoon has been reported to have died in Syria.

Ruby Ramores of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and Nestor Burayag of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration  confirmed that the migrant worker, whose name was withheld, died while she was about to be sent home to Manila along with the 11 other OFWs.

But both officials could not provide other details, saying embassy officials in Syria had yet to issue an official report.

However, Lorelie Cortez, 37, one of the 11 OFWs who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 5 p.m. Thursday, said that immigration officials in Abu Dhabi left the Filipino woman under her care.

“She was on a wheelchair and she appeared very weak. Her body was bloated and she was having a hard time talking,” Cortez said. “According to her, she was given the wrong medicine for a headache.”

Cortez said that from the consulate, the group was taken to the immigration office in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday where they were held for several hours prior to their flight back home.

“She was taken to the hospital only after I pleaded for her. But yesterday, as we were about to board the plane, we were told that she was already dead,” Cortez said.

She added that the OFW’s relatives probably remained clueless about their loved one’s fate.

The latest batch of OFW brought to 972 the number of OFWs in the troubled Middle East country to be flown back to the Philippines through a program of the Department of Foreign Affairs.