Senator Cynthia Villar has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to hasten the return of the remains of an overseas worker who was stranded for two years in Dammam, Saudi Arabia after his company declared bankruptcy and died last March of stomach cancer.
“I think both the DFA and OWWA must explain why it has taken so long for his body to be brought home,” said Villar as she promised to personally look into the delay in the repatriation of the remains of 45-year-old Roger Dignadice.
“Dignadice died on March 11 and until now, his body is in the morgue, awaiting repatriation. His widow had to fly from Iloilo to Manila and go from one agency to another to seek help because she cannot afford to pay the remainder of his hospital bills. His family had been suffering even while Roger was still alive and fighting for his benefits and back wages. He was a stranded OFW for two years. Now that he is dead, the family continues to suffer because they cannot even grieve over his coffin. I want to understand why this happened and which agency should be held accountable,” added Villar.
The repatriation process involving the remains of a deceased OFW, Villar said, should be simplified, with every grieving OFW family’s request treated with utmost urgency and compassion.
OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac had promised to take care of the unpaid hospital bills so that the body of Dignadice can finally be brought home and laid to rest.
The DFA also promised to help the Dignadice family. It took several requests from the Dignadice family and the Blas F. Ople Policy Center before such assurances were obtained.
Villar said that nearly three months have passed since Dignadice died, and the undue delay has added to the anxiety and grief of her wife and children.
The staunch OFW advocate urged the DFA and OWWA to make it easier for grieving families to receive the remains of relatives who died abroad.
“Why must the widow travel all the way from Iloilo to Manila to seek the help of our government? I will officially write to the DFA and OWWA to seek an explanation on this matter,” Senator Villar said.
Dignadice’s widow was among six beneficiaries of livelihood assistance extended by the senator through the Villar family’s SIPAG Foundation. The Villar SIPAG Foundation’s OFW livelihood assistance package consisted of grocery items and an initial capital that would allow the beneficiaries to open a small store.
The six beneficiaries were Reynaldo Batuigas of Marilao, Bulacan; Lory Rose Beniegla of Las Pinas City; Marife Pagtalunan of Calumpit, Bulacan; Nonalie Hosanilla of Talipapa, Quezon City ; Shiela Mae Gallo of Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental and Merlita Dignadice of Pasil, Iloilo