The family of a deceased overseas Filipino worker received a cadaver that was repatriated from Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed, but said the body was not their relative’s, and blamed the Israeli funeral service company for the mix-up.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose said that Fernando Peralta was an OFW from Israel who died of heart attack last May 25.
The family of Peralta found out that the cadaver sent to them was actually not Fernando’s. His younger brother was the one who found out about the mishandling of the cadaver, saying his brother had mole in the forehead and didn’t have teeth.
In a press briefing , Jose said the embassy cannot be faulted for the mix- up because its main responsibility is to provide the necessary documents to the funeral company, which assigns it to the corresponding casket and remains.
“The embassy can only view the remains at the morgue or hospital before it is transferred to the refrigerated room of the funeral parlor where the remains are sealed in a casket,” Jose told reporters.
“The embassy does not have access to this area because the funeral parlor has the responsibility to seal it for transit to the Philippines,” he added.
Jose said the embassy learned that the Israeli funeral and repatriation service company that handled the shipping of Peralta’s remains made a mistake in handling the documents of the deceased by inadvertently sticking them to a different casket.
“This resulted in the shipment of the body of a foreign national to the Philippines instead of that of the Filipino worker,” Jose said.
Peralta’s body is currently stored at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv pending the processing of its release in the shipment to the family in the Philippines.
“The embassy is closely coordinating the family of the deceased Filipino national to ensure the immediate repatriation of their kin’s remains,” Jose said.
The wrong cadaver, which looks like a Chinese, is set to be brought back to Israel.