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Senate President Manny Villar is joining the call of migrant worker
support groups for the government to vigorously pursue the case of a
24-year-old Filipina who died, and is feared murdered, in Saudi
Arabia.
Villar made the statement after the remains of
Eugenia Baja came home to her hometown in Bohol, four months after
she died.Her remains were airlifted to Manila on Thursday and
brought to her home province of Bohol on Friday.
“To date, the number of overseas Filipino
workers [OFWs] who had unexplainable deaths in foreign lands
continues to rise. The case of Baja should not go down as another
statistic. Our foreign affairs department and the labor department
should see to it that the true reason of her death will be
ascertained and every legal action will be applied if needed,”
Villar said.
Accompanied by representatives of the militant
migrant workers’ federation Migrante International, Lilibeth Baja
Garcia, Eugenia’s sister, sought Villar’s help her body to be
brought to the Philippines. They also asked for Villar’s help in
giving Eugenia a decent burial in Bohol.
According to Migrante, Baja’s skull was
fractured and her teeth were chipped. Sutures and bruises covered
her body, and her side has a mysterious slash. According to the
staff of the funeral parlor, there were lesions in her legs, as if
she was dragged, and her skull seemed to have been hit with a heavy
object. This strengthened the suspicion that there was some foul
play involved in Baja’s death.
Migrante International, together with the
family, demanded for the immediate and thorough investigation on
Baja’s case. They pressed for justice to be served to the OFW who
they suspect is a victim of foul play.
Initial Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
reports also confused Baja’s family. The DFA informed her family
of Baja’s death on March 3, referring to a report from Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA) that she committed suicide by banging her head in
the toilet tiles after three days of locking herself up in her room.
However, documents from KSA authorities which arrived with the
corpse said that Baja died in a hospital due to ulcer.
Baja’s family became concerned after getting
conflicting information about Eugenia’s death. They had expected a
lot from Eugenia since she is the only one who finished college in
their family, said her sister Lilibeth.
Said Garry Martinez, Migrante spokeperson,
“Only a thorough and independent investigation and an autopsy will
answer so many questions. Was Eugenia Baja murdered? What did the
DFA do to determine the real cause of death, to help the family?”
On May 24, Villar wrote DFA Sec. Alberto Romulo
to assist in the immediate repatriation of Eugenia’s remains. He
will also ask the help of Department of Labor and Employment to
assist in providing and processing the insurance, claims and
financial assistance to Baja’s family.
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