Sad reunion for Baby Girl’s kin

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Almost four years after leaving Sara, Iloilo to work in Kuwait, Joanna Daniela Demafelis finally arrived home yesterday – but it was a sad reunion with her family.

Weeping engulfed the cargo area of the Iloilo International Airport as the remains of the 29-year-old Demafelis arrived here in a wooden casket on a Philippine Airlines jet from Manila.

At least 200 relatives and friends from Sara town, a second class municipality 98 kilometers from Iloilo City, gathered at the airport since early morning to meet the woman they called “Baby Girl.”

Demafelis was found dead inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait City more than a week ago after she was reported missing for a year.

Her sister Joyce hugged the casket and said: “Ate, wake up.” Her mother Eva could only ask why her daughter left her.

The grieving relatives were joined by officials and representatives of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) led by administrator Hans Cacdac, Iloilo Rep. Raul Tupas and Sara town Mayor Ermelita Salcedo.

The hearse left the airport with around 30 vehicles joining the convoy.

It made a stop in Ajuy town to process her remains at the Somo Funeral Homes.

After that, the remains will be brought to their family home in Barangay Ferraris for viewing.

Interment details have yet to be announced.

Demafelis’ mother Eva said her daughter’s assailants should suffer the death penalty.

Her cousin Liezl Demafelis said Joanna was a good daughter, a kind-hearted sister and a timid woman. 

“Her goodness is beyond reproach,” she said.

Cacdac said he personally went to Iloilo to convey condolences from OWWA, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and President Duterte on the death of the Ilongga domestic helper.

He also assured the family that financial assistance is now being processed and would be released very soon.

There were reports that the government has assured the Demafelis family of P800,000 financial assistance.

Yesterday, Cacdac said the monetary aid will be given by the OWWA Board of Trustees.

Earlier reports said that Joanna’s family will receive P300,000 financial or bereavement assistance, P200,000 livelihood assistance and P50,000 educational assitance for her youngest sister to finish school.

The DFA also released P5,000 financial assistance to the first batch of 260 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriated from Kuwait last week.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday met the OFWs who were repatriated as part of the amnesty program of the Kuwaiti government.

According to the DFA, many of those who returned from Kuwait claimed to have suffered from physical and emotional maltreatment while others complained that their employers failed to pay them the agreed salary.  

The arrival of the repatriated workers came even as President Duterte ordered a deployment ban to Kuwait over reports of abuse of Filipino workers.

The Kuwaiti government has protested the ban, maintaining that it is providing foreigners with support and protection similar to what it gives to its citizens.

Cacdac said they would also help the child of one of Demafiles’ siblings.

So far, OWWA has released financial assistance and helped in the transportation needs of her Manila-based family members to go home to Sara.

The sixth in a brood of nine, she worked as a housemaid in Manila after graduating from Sara National High School. 

On May 18, 2014, she left the country to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait.

By late of 2016, she informed her Manila-based sister Juliet that she would extend her employment for one more year.

The victim had a three-year work contact in Kuwait.

Her last employers were Lebanese Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife Mona Hassoun, both suspects in her murder.

Criminal case

Cacdac also promised that charges will be filed against the two suspects under Kuwaiti law.

He said that according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) the investigation is still going on and the Interpol has been tapped to locate the couple.

“We are waiting and hoping that the Kuwaiti government could deliver justice to us,” Cacdac said.

As reported, Joanna’s personal belongings were found intact and are now in the custody of Kuwaiti authorities for investigation.

But Cacdac said they would be turned over soon.

Sangguniang Bayan of Sara approved a resolution condemning her brutal killing.

Resolution No. 011, Series of 2018 was approved during its regular session on Feb. 13.

Another 23 repatriated OFWs from Kuwait arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) yesterday morning on board Etihad Airways.

They were welcomed by OWWA officials as their travel documents were processed by the Immigration officials at the holding area in Gate 6 of Terminal 1.

The repatriated OFWs were given financial assistance of P5,000 each, which they can claim in any regional office of OWWA.

The workers residing in Luzon would get transportation allowance, while those residing in the Visayas and Mindanao will be housed at the OWWA’s temporary shelter in Pasay City.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) called on the government to implement a strict monitoring of OFWs to prevent human rights abuses and modern-day slavery.

The CHR issued the statement as it condoled with the family of Joanna Demafelis.CHR commissioner Gwendolyn Gana, the agency’s focal person for migrant workers’ rights, said the government should ensure that Filipinos are only deployed in countries where their rights will be protected.

“The law is very clear. For it to be properly implemented, we need stronger and sustainable partnerships between and among government and the private sector as well as civil society and OFW groups to ensure that migrant workers’ rights are being monitored,” Gana said, referring to Republic Act 10022 or the Migrant Workers’ Act.

She earlier expressed support for the government’s decision to ban deployment to Kuwait pending the investigation of a number cases of OFW abuse in recent years.

“We must always remember Joanna and other victims like her so that our resolve to undertake reforms remain strong and unwavering,” she said.

Gana said the government should consider providing quicker response to urgent calls for help from a maltreated OFW or her next of kin. 

She noted that the Demafelis family did seek help from various government agencies when the worker could no longer be contacted.

“The CHR supports the government’s efforts to promote stronger protection and enhanced welfare mechanisms for our OFWs, especially those most prone to abuse and exploitation,” she said.

The DFA said that its Office of Migrant Workers Affairs (OMWA) has been actively working with the Philippine embassy in Kuwait to ensure that all distressed OFWs are rescued and provided with adequate support.

Susan Ople, head of Blas F. Ople Policy Center, yesterday urged the government to form a joint task force to address problems in monitoring the conditions of OFWs.

Ople said Demafelis’ safety in Kuwait was compromised after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) closed the

operations of the slain  domestic helper’s recruitment agency, the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc.

“Let’s remember that what happened to Joanna can also happen to other distressed OFWs whose contracts were processed by a recruitment

agency that is no longer operational,” Ople said in a news forum in Quezon City.

Ople said they have no information on why the POEA canceled the license of Demafelis’ recruitment agency.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has appealed to countries accepting OFWs, particularly in the Middle East, to protect Filipino workers.

In a statement, TESDA director general Guiling Mamondiong said OFWs should be treated with “respect and dignity.”

Mamondiong noted there is a need for the DOLE and the DFA to “tighten the policies” in sending OFWs to Arab states.

He added the OFWs should also undergo seminars about their jobs and the culture and language of the country where they will work. 

The language training program of TESDA, which is under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP), teaches OFWs how to speak English, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin (Chinese), Italian, Arabic and Korean (Hangul).

Aside from language proficiency program, the training aims to educate OFWs about the culture of the country where they are being deployed.

The National Language Skills Institute of TESDA also serves as a training venue for Japanese Language Preparatory Training for nurses and caregivers under the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

TESDA is planning to add more language courses for their training program such as German, Russian, French, Bahasa, Vietnamese and Mandarin (Taiwan).

Aside from Kuwait, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo called for a ban on the deployment of OFWs to other countries that do not protect Filipino workers.

“In a span of one year, over a hundred of our citizens have died in Kuwait as a result of abuse and torture. If the Kuwaiti government will not act on these crimes or take action to prevent more deaths, then the President is justified in ordering this total ban,” Castelo said. – With Janvic Mateo, Emmanuel Tupas, Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz, Rudy Santos.