Families of 3 OFWs killed in Saudi terror attack demand justice

First the anguish, now the anger.

Families agonizing over the deaths of their loved ones in a recent attack by alleged al-Qaeda operatives in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, said the terrorists must pay for what they have done.

"Dapat magbayad sila," wailed Amalia, wife of Feliciano Dizon, a finance officer in a Saudi firm who was killed with a gunshot wound in the head when terrorist suspects seized a residential compound of mostly Western expatriates last May 29.

Feliciano’s death was a case of mistaken identity, Amalia said.

Her husband’s remains, as well as those of two other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) killed in the incident, arrived yesterday afternoon at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) aboard Gulf Air flight GF-154.

Joelly Giray and Mariano Cabasag, both employed as drivers, were identified as the two other fatalities.

Iluminada Giray, Joelly widow, said those behind the tragic killings should be punished and meted the heaviest penalty.

"Filipinos in the Middle East are not involved in the war," she lamented, referring to the United States-led invasion of Iraq to rid the oil-rich country of alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The Philippines was one of the countries that readily supported the controversial war.

Grieving relatives welcomed the remains of the three fallen OFWs placed inside wooden boxes.

Ambassador Amable Aguiluz V, special envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council, interceded for the repatriation of the bodies by Saudi authorities to representatives of the Philippine government.

The families were met at the NAIA by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) officials led by Administrator Virgilio Angelo. The OWWA has promised to give full benefits to the victims’ families, including cash amounting to P200,000, shouldering burial expenses also worth P200,000, and extending scholarships to their children.

Amalia and her daughter, Catherine, 6, were vacationing in Al-Khobar at the time of the attack.

Feliciano was assistant finance manager at the Resources Saudi Arabia Ltd. Amalia said her husband had been working in Al-Khobar for almost five years.

It was the first time that they had visited him.

Mother and daughter arrived in Al-Khobar eight days before tragedy struck at the Oasis Compound, where the offices and residence of the three victims were located.

Feliciano and Amalia have five children — Ricardo, 21; Jeremy, 15; Rose Ann, 13; Catherine, 6; and Jacob, 2.

Embassy officials, she said, told her that based on reports, Feliciano was asked by the terrorists if he was American. When he could not immediately answer due to shock, he was shot in the head.

Amalia confided she is at a loss on how to go about life now that her husband is gone.

She said she would never allow her children to follow the footsteps of Feliciano in landing job opportunities there.

Like Feliciano, Joelly had no inkling that something bad would happen, their wives said.

Iluminada said her husband phoned her a few days before the attack.

A certain Arnold, apparently Joelly’s friend, was the one who told her about her husband having been wounded from the attack, and eventually, his death.

Joelly had been working in Saudi for about 14 years.

He is survived by his wife and two children Lydia, 28, and Sharon, 25.

Despite what had befallen her husband, Iluminada said she could not blame Filipinos seeking opportunities in the Middle East regardless of the risk involved.

Hard-pressed to make ends meet, she said Filipinos have no choice but to work abroad.