Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
AUTHORITIES are investigating the case of a “decomposing body” of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was reportedly found floating near a pier in Hong Kong, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.
A household helper who introduced herself as a relative of the deceased, asked the investigators to keep the incident “a little private,” DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Raymond Cortez said.
“Requested po ng pamilya to keep it a little private, kung kaya’t hindi po nare-release yung pangalan ng namatay at yung employer po,” he said.
“Nakausap po natin yung employer and sabi po, they’ll do everything para maiuwi nang mabilis yung katawan po ng ating kababayan, pati na rin po yung sweldo, gratuity or end of service benefits,” Cortez said.
Reports had it that Joggers first saw the rotting corpse on July 13, the DFA official said.
“Mga alas-sais po ng umaga, may nakita pong katawan na lumulutang-lutang sa may pier,” he said.
“They tried to fish out yung katawan kasi parang na entangle po dahil sa mga barko-barko. Noong nakita yung katawan medyo na decomposed na po,” he said.
“In-open na rin po for post mortem examination para matukoy kung ano po ang nagyari sa kababayan po natin,” Cortez added.
He said Philippine government has full confidence an impartial investigation would be conducted.
“Alam nyo naman po sa diplomasya, we put our trust na lahat ng gagawin ng host country will be up to our expectation bilang isang migrant community, building relations with other the host government,” Cortez said in a radio interview.
“Syempre kailangan po natin ang lahat ng kasagutan para maibsan man lang ng konti ang nararamdaman ng pamilya at nang maiuwi ang labi ng ating kababayan,” he added.
The victim’s remains will be shipped back to Manila as soon as the investigations were completed and a death certificate has been issued by the authorities.\
Last May, another OFW in Hong Kong reportedly fell to her death while a cleaning a window of the building where she was working.
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Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
