Probe sought of OFW’s death while awaiting flight out of Syria

MANILA, Philippines—Migrants rights groups on Saturday urged the government to investigate the death of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was due to be repatriated from Syria on Thursday.

The calls for an investigation were made by the Blas Ople Center and Migrante-Middle East.

The Ople Center urged Vice President Jejomar Binay and the Department of Foreign Affairs to look into the possibility that the unidentified female OFW did not get sufficient medical and humanitarian assistance while awaiting repatriation.

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the OFW was rushed from the 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,” Hernandez said.

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

Conflicting reports

Former Labor Undersecretary Susan Ople, head of the Ople Center, said that a review of repatriation procedures, particularly of OFWs from Syria, must be undertaken to ensure that proper medical assistance is made available to workers who may be suffering from physical ailments and emotional stress.

“We do not wish to pass judgment on how this happened but clearly there are certain questions that need to be answered. For one, did anyone from the Philippine Embassy in Syria and the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi ascertain whether the OFW was fit enough to endure the long flight as well as the tiring immigration process of obtaining clearance?” said Ople.

“At the very least, was there someone from the embassy who endorsed her as a special health and humanitarian case to the Syrian immigration office?” she added.

In a statement, John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said their call for an investigation was premised on the conflicting reports they received about the death.

“We want this investigated and impose disciplinary action, if not fire, those negligent embassy and Owwa officials with an aim that this would not happen again,” he said.

Weak, bloated

Lorelie Cortez, one of the OFWs who arrived in Manila on Thursday, said that the OFW 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 in 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 the OFW was taken to the hospital only after she pleaded for her. “But yesterday, as we were about to board the plane, we were told that she was already dead,” Cortez said.

Ople said this implied that there was no endorsement from one embassy to the other pertaining to the health risks faced by the OFW.

“Could she have been saved had she been brought immediately to a hospital? This is something that the DFA and OVP should immediately look into,” Ople said.

According to Monterona, he was wondering why the Philippine Embassy and Owwa officials in Syria allowed the sick OFW to travel without a medical staffer or assistant accompanying her.

“Allowing a very sick OFW to travel is a gross negligence on the part of embassy and Owwa officials,” Monterona said.