The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said it is monitoring the case of slain overseas Filipino worker Marjorette Garcia to ensure that justice will be served.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros seeks a Senate inquiry into the death of Garcia who was found dead with stab wounds in Saud Arabia.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes said their lawyers in Saudi Arabia will ensure that the case against the suspect will run properly and that justice will be served for Garcia.
“A killing of a person is not only a crime against the person involved or the victim, but a crime against society,” Cortes said.
Cortes earlier said police rushed Garcia to a hospital after she was found bloodied due to a stab wound. The victim died while undergoing treatment.
Saudi Arabian authorities have already arrested the suspect, a co-worker of the victim.
“Saudi Arabia’s special prosecutor is doing the necessary case filing against the suspected perpetrator,” Cortes said.
Besides, he said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) were coordinating with Garcia’s family for assistance.
The DFA indicated that the suspect was not the victim’s employer, but most likely a co-worker of Garcia.
Officials were still waiting for the initial investigation results so they could release additional details about the case, Cortes said.
The DMW said its office in Al-Khobar and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration were coordinating with the Philippine Embassy and the Saudi police to determine the “circumstances behind” Garcia’s death.
The DMW is also working for the immediate return of Garcia’s remains to the Philippines.
In her proposed Senate Resolution 817, Hontiveros said an inquiry must be conducted to bring justice to Garcia’s family.
She said they also wanted to that women migrant workers, who are often subjected to extensive violence, are protected and safeguarded.
“There must be strong mechanisms to provide comprehensive assistance and sustainable protection to OFWs, particularly women migrant workers, throughout the whole process, from the recruitment to repatriation,” Hontiveros said..
She cited Article XIII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution which provides for full protection to labor, local and overseas. She also mentioned the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 which provides for adequate and timely social , economic and legal services to Filipino migrant workers.
Garcia, a 32-year old domestic helper was set to go back to the Philippines this October. She started working in Saudi Arabia in 2021.
Last September 27, Garcia’s family received information that she was found dead with stab wounds.
Authorities are still investigating the details and circumstances of his death which have remained unknown as of this writing.
Furthermore, Hontiveros noted that during the past several years, OFWs facing abuses and maltreatment in the Middle East never made it back to the country alive and return to their families.
She cited the case of Constancia Dayag who was beaten and sexually assaulted by her employer last May 2019. She also mentioned Jullibee Ranara who was raped, tortured, and killed last January 2023.
In 2021, she said 60 percent of OFWs were women.
In the same year, OWWA reported that 75% of the 23,986 cases of abuse included women migrant workers.