DFA grieves with kin of murdered Filipina student in Ireland

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano INQUIRER file photo

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday offered its condolences to the family of a 24-year-old Filipina student who went missing and later found murdered in Dublin, Ireland.

DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said he has offered his sympathies to the kin of Jastine Valdez, who was reported kidnapped before her body was discovered by Irish police.

“We grieve with the loved ones of Jastine Valdez, someone so young and so full of promise, who was suddenly taken away from them,” Cayetano said in a statement.

“We join the rest of the Filipino Community in Ireland in offering our prayers for Jastine and her family,” the DFA chief said.

The Philippine Embassy in London and the Honorary Consulate in Dublin have been monitoring the case since Valdez’s family reported her missing on Saturday evening, May 19, Cayetano said.

In the same statement issued by the DFA, Philippine Ambassador to London Antonio Lagdameo said Honorary Consul Mark Congdon will be discussing with the family possible assistance the DFA may be able to extend.

“Authorities found the body of Valdez, an accountancy student, in South County Dublin on Monday following a massive search that began after her disappearance,” Lagdameo said.

Lagdameo, citing reports from the Honorary Consulate, said Valdez was leaving her home in Wicklow County when she was reportedly abducted by a 40-year-old man.

“Police tracked down the vehicle on Sunday and fatally shot the suspect,” the diplomat said.

“Honorary Consul Congdon joined members of the Filipino Community in Dublin for prayer services for Valdez on Monday,” he also said. /jpv