By Roy Mabasa The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait is now closely coordinating with authorities there to gather evidence and investigate the untimely death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Constancia Lago Dayag, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. Dayag, a native of Isabela who was working as a domestic helper in Kuwait, was rushed to the Al-Sabah Hospital on May 14 with contusions and hematoma on her body. A cucumber was also found inserted in her body. According to the DFA, the Embassy learned of Dayag’s case at midnight of May 16 and has since then assigned a lawyer to handle the case. Charge d'Affaires Mohd Noordin Pendosina Lomondot said the Embassy has also requested Kuwait’s General Forensics and Evidence Department to expedite the release of the forensic report, which is usually processed within four to six weeks. Dayag was deployed as a household service worker in January 2016 to Kuwait and returned in 2018 as a Balik-Manggagawa on a second contract with her Kuwaiti employer. Earlier, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait to track down the recruitment agencies responsible for Dayag’s deployment. The latest incident of abuse against an OFW came more than a year after relations between the Philippines and Kuwait sunk to its lowest level following the death of Joanna Demafelis whose lifeless body was found inside a freezer at her employer’s apartment. Relations between Manila and the tiny Arabic country was further aggravated when Philippine officials conducted a daring rescue of an OFW from the household of her Kuwaiti employer and videotaped the entire process. Then Assistant Secretary for Public Information Elmer Cato distributed the video copy of the rescue to various media outlets, an act that angered the Kuwaiti government. With tension between the two countries reaching fever pitch, the Kuwaiti government arrested several Philippine Embassy staff outside its premises, and eventually expelled then Ambassador Renato Pedro Villa. Villa was the first Filipino diplomat to be expelled from a foreign post. Kuwait also recalled its ambassador to Manila in protest of the conduct and filming of the rescue. Villa, on the other hand, was recently “forced” to accept a lower rank position where he is now serving as consul general at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. Cato, meanwhile, was promoted to the rank of an ambassador and has reportedly volunteered to serve as the country’s Charge d’Affaires in war-torn Libya. Since then, both countries have yet to appoint their respective envoys.