By Erma Edera
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) vowed to seek justice for an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who allegedly died in the hands of her employer in Kuwait.
Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he will ask the Kuwaiti government to investigate the death of Constancia Lago Dayag, a 47-year-old worker from Agadanan, Isabela.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN)
“I am taking the Kuwaiti Government to task for the gruesome death of yet another Filipino in the hands of her employer in Kuwait,” Bello said.
Bello said he already directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait to track down the foreign and local agencies responsible for Dayag's deployment.
“Aside from the apparent violation of agreement on the protection of OFWs between our government and Kuwait, there appears to have been a breach of the employment contract by the foreign employer," he added.
Dayag was brought to the Al Sabah Hospital in Kuwait earlier this week after suffering various contusions and hematoma and with a “cucumber” inside her private part.
"Initial reports reaching my office indicate that Ms. Dayag was brought to Al Sabah Hospital the other night but was declared dead on arrival," Bello said.
Bello hinted that the victim was sexually abused before she died.
"The horrible fate of Ms. Dayag is deeply saddening and utterly condemnable," he said.
"We extend our sympathies to the family of Ms. Dayag, and we shall do everything to find justice for her death," Bello said.
The Philippine government ordered a deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait following a string of reported deaths and abuses, including Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer last year.
The ban was eventually lifted after the two countries forged a deal to protect Filipino migrant workers in the Gulf state.