Paging families of OFWs in Syria

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday called on the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in conflict-wracked Syria to provide information on the whereabouts of their relatives.

“The next-of-kin of Filipinos in Syria are encouraged to assist [us] and help ensure the safety of their family members by providing up-to-date contact information,” the DFA said in a statement.

Families of OFWs in Syria may call the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs at (02) 834-3245 or (02) 834-3240.

Meanwhile, the foreign office confirmed that one of the OFWs who opted to be repatriated to the Philippines on Thursday had died in Syria.

According to Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesperson, the OFW was rushed from Damascus International Airport to the Mujtahed hospital in Damascus where she reportedly died of renal failure.

“Philippine Embassy officials are coordinating with the hospital and with Syrian authorities to determine the cause of death and to ensure the immediate repatriation of her remains,” he said in a text message to the Inquirer.

The name of the deceased OFW was withheld pending the notification of her family.

Lorelie Cortez, one of the OFWs who arrived in Manila on Thursday, claimed that the Filipino woman was left under her care by Syrian authorities while they were at the immigration office several hours prior to their flight back home.

“She was on a wheel chair 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 a wrong medicine for a headache.”

“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 added.

The DFA, meanwhile, gave the assurance that it was doing its utmost to reach all Filipinos in Syria to inform them of the measures being implemented by the Philippine government and get them out of harm’s way.

DFA has raised crisis alert level 4 in Syria, which calls for the mandatory evacuation of all Filipinos.

To date, a total of 972 OFWs in Syria have been flown back to the Philippines.

Earlier, the foreign office deployed a “rapid response team” composed of personnel from the Philippine National Police, Department of Labor and Employment and the DFA to help out in the extraction and repatriation of OFWs in Syria’s conflict areas, including Homs, Hama, Dara’a and Idlib.