SEVEN overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed suicide in the first eight months of this year, a militant group said.
Migrante-UAE secretary general Nhel Morona said the suicides among the Filipino workers are alarming because Philippine officials in the UAE are not doing any action to trace the root cause of the incidents.
"We are alarmed by the increase of reported 'suicide' of OFWs in the Emirates. Migrante chapter in Dubai has already recorded seven cases of 'suicide'," said Morona.
He said they came to know these suicide cases when the victims' family sought their assistance.
According to him, they were surprised upon knowing that Philippine officials in the Emirates have done nothing on these cases.
Those OFWs who committed suicide according to Migrante were Roderick Miranda, Norayda Ayuman, Jeffrey Alberto So, Mitos Vergara, Myrna Baylosis, Remedios Waayan, and Evelyn Lilo.
Migrante-UAE is still confirming two other suicides in Abu Dhabi.
"We would like to call the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs to instruct their officials in the United Arab Emirates to thoroughly investigate the above-listed cases and to arrange for an autopsy inviting the families of the victims to shed light on the circumstances of their deaths so that the victims' families will be calmed," Morona added.
He lamented that they do not want to see a repeat of the case of OFW Eugenia Baja, who was reported by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, to have committed suicide inside her employer's house only to find out later after an autopsy conducted in the Philippines that she has suffered from heavy bruises and a stab wound in the body.
"It is a clear example of cover-up initiated by no less than our Philippine Embassy officials so that the perpetrators will be left unpunished of their crime against OFW victim," he said. (MSN/Sunnex)
