THE family of slain overseas Filipino worker, Joanna Demafiles of Barangay Ferraris, Sara town, Iloilo province, received on Tuesday morning the financial assistance from the Provincial Government.
Joanna’s siblings, Jojet and Joyce, together with their uncle, Pablo Demafiles, received the check worth P100,000 from Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol.
The fund is intended for burial expenses, Defensor said, adding that if the fund will not all be spent for the burial, the remaining money will be added to the livelihood assistance to the Demafiles family.
Aside from the assistance from the Provincial Government, the Demafiles family was also promised of several assistance from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa).
“We will give financial and bereavement assistance worth P300,000; livelihood assistance worth P200,000; P50,000 for the educational assistance of the sister; and another P50,000 for the medical assistance of the child of her sister,” said Connie Binondo, Owwa-Western Visayas Program and Services Division officer-in-charge.
Joanna, whose body was found inside a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait recently, will be laid to rest tentatively on March 3.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to visit Joanna’s wake on Thursday, February 22.
Justice
In their quest for justice, Joanna’s siblings appealed to the provincial and national government as well as the government of Kuwait to help fast-track the arrest of their sister’s killers.
“They asked me to help them so that the killers of Joanna will be arrested soon, and justice will be given to her immediately,” Defensor said. “They asked for help from the National Government, the President, the Department of Labor and Employment for the immediate arrest of Joanna’s employers.”
Jojet said their family expressed to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano their plea.
“Nung nag-usap kami ni Alan Peter Cayetano, naparating namin na sana mapadali ang paghuli sa gumawa ng pagmamaltrato sa kapatid ko,” said Jojet, the eldest of the nine Demafiles siblings who
still find it hard to come to terms with the fate of his younger sister.
“Parang nagmura nga ako nung nakita ko yung result niya sa autopsy, hindi ko matanggap-tanggap na bali-bali ang katawan niya, kung anu-ano ang pinaggagawa sa kanya,” he said.
However, Jojet finds comfort to the assurance of Cayetano that there are talks between the Philippines and Kuwait officials. (SunStar Philippines)