PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. vowed on Monday, January 30, 2023 to extend assistance to the family of Jullebee Ranara, a Filipino household worker who was found dead in the desert in Kuwait.

Marcos visited the wake of Ranara in their residence in Las Piñas City together with Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople, Senator Mark Villar and Las Piñas City Representative Camille Villar, among others.

“I just wanted to offer my sympathies to the family and to assure them that all the assistance that they might need, for the family and for whatever else, ang pangako ko sa kanila. Kaya naman nagsakripisyo ang anak nila na magtrabaho sa abroad ay dahil may mga pangarap siya para sa kanyang pamilya,” the President said.

“Kaya’t sinabi ko dahil nawala na ‘yung anak ninyo kami na lang ang tutupad ng pangarap ninyo. Lahat ng assistance na puwede naming ibigay, ibibigay namin,” Marcos added.

Ranara was found dead on Sunday, January 22. Her body was burned and abandoned in a desert.

In an autopsy report conducted in Gulf state, it said that Ranara was raped and impregnated.

The alleged suspect was the 17-year-old son of her employer who is now under police custody.

Ranara’s remains arrived Friday evening, January 27.

Marcos said the Philippine government is scheduling bilateral meetings with Kuwait to review the Bilateral Labor Agreement (BLA) to further protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) following the killing of Ranara.

“We are also scheduling bilateral meetings with Kuwait to look at the agreement that we have to see if there are any weaknesses in the agreement that allowed this to happen and to make sure that those weaknesses are remedied so that the agreement is stronger and... will be more supportive of our workers,” he said.

The National Bureau of Investigation will conduct another autopsy on Ranara’s remains.

Earlier, Ople vowed that the Philippine government will pursue charges against the suspect. (SunStar Philippines)