MANILA, Philippines — Three years ago, Joanna Daniela Demafelis left her native Iloilo with hopes of making life better for her relatives through her work as a domestic helper in Kuwait.
Yesterday morning, Demafelis returned home… in a wooden casket.
Relatives broke down and sobbed as Demafelis’ remains arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The body of the overseas Filipina worker (OFW) was found in a freezer in a Kuwait apartment abandoned in 2016.
The casket was transferred to Pair Cargo warehouse, where her family and government officials led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano were waiting.
Demafelis’ relatives are demanding justice for her death. They want those who killed her to be jailed.
Cayetano admitted that relations between the Philippines and Kuwait have been shaken, but he said the governments of the two countries are conducting a deeper probe on her death.
Demafelis, 29, was beaten several times before she died, according to the initial autopsy report.
The Kuwaiti government is searching for a Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, suspects in the killing of Demafelis.
The Lebanese man and the Syrian woman had reportedly left Kuwait when authorities found the body of Demafelis inside the freezer.
Cayetano said President Duterte has ordered authorities to do everything to protect OFWs.
“Her death is very tragic, but this will also be a rallying point for all agencies to be more aggressive abroad,” he added.
Cayetano said the Philippine government has asked the Kuwaiti government to extend the amnesty program for undocumented workers for three months.
He conveyed the Philippine government’s request for extension of the amnesty program during a meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaik at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday.
“We asked for three months. It’s normal for any country for their immigration law and immigration policies to go after the undocumented,” Cayetano said. “What the DFA can do is make it easier for them to come home.”
A crackdown on undocumented foreign workers in Kuwait is seen after the deadline of the amnesty program this month.
The Philippine government is hoping that the involvement of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), an international organization that facilitates international police cooperation, will lead to the arrest of the suspects in the killing of Demafelis.
Amid reports of mounting cases of migrant workers in distress, Sen. Sonny Angara is pushing for the deployment of more social welfare attachés (SWAs) to beef up the Philippine diplomatic missions in countries swamped with pleas for help from abused Filipinos or those in trouble with the law.
Angara said there is an urgent need to send more SWAs because there are only four social welfare officers deployed by the government across the globe.
“We really have only a few SWAs, or less than one SWA per continent,” Angara said, adding such official serves specific and vital functions to help OFWs.
“In the division of labor inside what is basically a multi-agency embassy, there are assigned personnel that can handle legal cases, liaise with local police, as well as military, trade, agriculture attachés,” he said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has two SWAs posted in Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and one each in Kuwait and Malaysia.
There are reported plans to send three more SWAs to Dubai, Qatar and Hong Kong.
But what is lacking, Angara said, is a trained professional who can provide care, comfort and counseling to Filipinos in crisis in need of special protection.
“Even if we have good lawyers or experts of laws in the host countries, we still need those who give psychosocial care to victims of trafficking or violence,” he added.
Angara also said the presence of SWAs is a welcome addition to any embassy, and they should be integrated and made a permanent fixture of the country’s foreign service.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, called for review of the country’s labor agreements with other states to determine whether they need to be strengthened, especially those with countries with high reported abuse rates. – Paolo Romero, Pia Lee-Brago