The body of a Filipino who was stabbed to death while on a visa run to Kish Island Abu Dhabi has arrived Manila shortly after 1:00am Monday aboard Gulf Air Flight 156 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, more than a month after he was killed.
He will be laid to rest on Wednesday, according to Perlita Carmen, the mother of Mark Lloyd Carmen.
She said the family would like to leave the fate of the Sudanese man who is charged with her son’s death to the justice system of Iran.
Her son’s wife, Baican, now plans to seek a job in the UAE to support their two children.
Carmen, 24, was stabbed during a fight with a Sudanese man, reportedly by a second Sudanese man who stepped in to break up the melee in a hotel on July 1.
Mrs Carmen, a 55-year-old former government employee in Taguig City, Metro Manila, last saw her son when she put him on a plane bound for the UAE on April 4.
“I’m filled with mixed emotions,” she said by phone. “I’m glad that he’ll be back here but I don’t know how I would come to terms with his death.”
Carmen’s aunt in Al Ain, Estela Gonzaga, 37, had said last month that her nephew had been staying at a hotel on the island since June 11 while waiting for a new visa to re-enter the Emirates. He spent two months in Abu Dhabi looking for a job before flying to Kish.
Ms Gonzaga flew to Tehran last week to check with the Philippine embassy in the Iranian capital. The embassy received Manila’s approval for the provision of repatriation funds on July 26, she said.
“I’m glad that he will finally be laid to rest,” she said.
Migrante International scored the DFA for refusing to shoulder the cost of repatriation of Mark Lloyd’s remains, which may reach as much as P360,000. Migrante said Leila Gonzaga, Mark Lloyd’s relative, was told by embassy officials that it was the family’s responsibility to shoulder the cost of autopsy and airfare for the return of his remains The OUMWA meanwhile informed Perlita that they had to pay USD8,000, or approximately P360,000, for the repatriation of her son’s remains, according to Migrante. On her visit to the morgue, Gonzaga was also shocked to learn that, apart from Carmen’s, at least a dozen more bodies of OFWs remain unclaimed in Iran morgues. “This is cause for national outrage.
The DFA was claiming that one of the main reasons for the delay in the repatriation of Carmen’s body was because many more bodies were being processed," said Migrante chairperson Garry Martinez said. He added, “The DFA should have no reason to justify failure to ship back the remains of OFWs when it has P100 million in repatriation funds.
Saan na napunta ang pondong ito? Bakit ipinapabalikat sa mga pamilya ang expenses? (Where do these funds go? Why are the families being made to shoulder the expenses?)
Consul General Lemque said while they have requested the DFA to shoulder the repatriation costs, the family will still have to pay back the expenses. “An affidavit of undertaking was signed by the mother, saying that DFA will fund the repatriation in the meantime but the mother will have to pay for the plane ticket in the future," she said.
She added that should Perlita need a passport, she will first have to reimburse the DFA for the repatriation costs for her son before she is issued one. Lemque said they are likewise verifying reports that dozens of bodies of Filipinos are lying in morgues awaiting repatriation, and that they have already sent a written requet to the Iranian government to seek assistance for confirmation.
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Pinoy Sinawing Palad sa Kish Island
~ Samahang Pinoy Kawanggawa
www.isabelsaguinsin2.blogspot.com
Reimbursement?
ReplyDeleteBut Perlita said she was made to sign an affidavit stating that she will pay for the autopsy of her son as well as the cost of the repatriation.
“’Yun daw kasi ang policy, na i-shoulder muna ng DFA provided na icha-charge sa amin in the future (They said that’s the policy, the DFA will shoulder the costs in the meantime provided that we will reimburse them in the future)," she said.
She said this was because Mark Lloyd was considered “undocumented" by the Philippine government as he only had a tourist visa when he was killed.
According to her, the DFA had assured her that it was just a “formality" so that the repatriation process could be started.
The affidavit does not indicate the amount and deadline of payment, Perlita said.
She said based on information from a relative in Iran who earlier visited the Philippine Embassy there, the costs could reach as much as P360,000, or 20,000 riyals for the autopsy and 10,000 riyals for the plane ticket.
"Bahala na"
Perlita said she signed the affidavit to avoid further delay in her son’s repatriation.
“Hindi ko na inisip. Pinirmahan ko na, para lang hindi na magtagal pa roon ang katawan ng anak ko. Bahala na kung mabayaran (I didn’t think much about it. I signed it so my son’s body would be repatriated at the soonest possible time. I’m not sure if I would be able to pay for it)," she said.
Perlita expressed gratitude to Migrante and Taguig Rep. Freddie Tinga for assisting her and pressuring the DFA to attend to the immediate repatriation of her son’s remains.
According to her, Mark Lloyd’s wake will only be for two nights in a tent beside the village hall. Tinga is shouldering Mark Lloyd’s wake and burial, which is tentatively set on Wednesday morning.
taos puso pong pakikiramay sa mga naulila ng ating kabayang si Mark Lloyd Carmen.
ReplyDeleteDFA admits asking kin of slain OFW for reinbursement
ReplyDeleteMigrants’ rights group Migrante International, meanwhile, scored the DFA in the same newscast for allegedly discriminating against “undocumented" workers.
"Malinaw naman na ang ating ATN ay inilaan para sa ating undocumented na mga kababayan. Wag tayong mamili sapagkat Pilipino pa rin siya at naghahangad lang naman ng maayos na buhay sa ibayong dagat," said Garry Martinez, Migrante International Chairman.