HEART MISSING IN KUWAIT: City council wants deeper probe into Cebuana's death

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City council is urging the Commission on Human Rights and the Department of Foreign Affairs to help facilitate a more thorough investigation into the circumstances behind the death of a Cebuano domestic helper in Kuwait whose body was repatriated already without a heart.

The council sought the help of CHR to establish the mechanisms of rights enforcement under the International and Regional Human Rights System so that the “unusual” circumstances of the death of Denise Coleen Bolay-og will be properly looked into.

The family of Balay-og in Barangay Guadalupe believes that there was foul play in her death because she was complaining of maltreatment from her employer in Kuwait before she allegedly died of cardiac arrest on May 14.

In fact, Bolay-og ran away from her employer, Marawan Anton Allam, before her death because of alleged physical abuse. According to the family, they do not believe that Bolay-og died of cardiac arrest because she did not have the history of having heart ailment, more so that the body of the victim arrived with her heart missing.

The family members were only told that the heart was taken off for purposes of pathological examination.

The family also noticed bruises all over the victim’s body suggesting a possible foul play.

The council wants the DFA to order the Philippine Embassy and Consular Office in the Middle East to find out the real story behind her missing heart and to provide assistance to the family she left behind.

Bolay-og is married to Sherwin where she left with two children. Aside from the CHR and the DFA, the council also urged the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate and look into the possible nonfeasance of officials assigned in the Middle East, particularly in Kuwait.

The council wants to verify if officials are really doing their jobs in ensuring the safety and in protecting the rights of the Filipino workers abroad.

There is also a call to the Commission on Filipino Overseas, Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to strengthen their policies to better ensure that all regulations and programs pertaining to the protection of migrant workers’ rights are strictly enforced and implemented.

The council believes that the general public must be informed of the realities of overseas work in Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, “so that prospective middle east- bound OFWs, especially those belonging to the domestic helper category will be kept abreast to the changing, if not worsening, working conditions in the said countries.”   (FREEMAN NEWS)