Justice sought for OFW in freezer

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Like most Filipino workers who tried their luck abroad, 28-year-old Joanna Demafelis had her family’s welfare in mind when she left to work in Kuwait.

She wanted to build a house for her family in Barangay Ferraris, Sara, Iloilo and send her youngest sibling to school.

But such plans were apparently not meant to be fulfilled.

Joanna’s body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait on Feb. 6.

Her mother described Joanna as a good daughter and a kind sister.

The sixth in a brood of nine, Joanna worked as a househelp in Manila after graduating from high school at Sara National High School. 

On May 18, 2014, she left the country to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait.

While abroad, Joanna rarely called the family, according to her elder sister Criselda.

In those rare occasions, Joanna asked for mobile phone load, saying phone cards were expensive there.

She was sent P150 worth of load twice.

“She didn’t tell anything to us. She just said she’s OK every time we asked about her work,” Criselda said.

By late 2016, Joanna called her sister Juliet in Manila to say that she would extend her employment for one more year. The victim had a three-year contact in Kuwait.

Joanna used to work for a Lebanese employer and his Syrian wife. Her family assumed that her new contract was with the same employer.

Joanna also informed her family that she could not send them allowance because she was saving money to finish the construction of their home once her contract ends.

But two months and with no communication with any member of her family, Criselda said they began to worry.

Joanna could not be contacted either through landline or mobile phone. Her Facebook account was apparently deactivated.

By February 2017,  Juliet went to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office in Manila to ask for help in looking for her sister.

The family was told that the agency had other cases reported ahead of Joanna’s.

No news was heard about Joanna’s disappearance until OWWA representatives in its Iloilo office personally went to Sara town and bared the news.

Joanna’s mother said she did not see the picture of her daughter inside the freezer.

It was her brother-in-law, Pablo Demafiles who saw the picture and confirmed that it was indeed Joanna.

“When I saw it on television, I knew it was her,” Pablo said.

Criselda said she had no doubt that it was Joanna’s body that was stuffed half naked in a freezer.

“My sister doesn’t deserve it. Justice must be served,” she said.

Joanna’s mother cried for justice as she called that the perpetrators be punished for what they did to her daughter.

“I hope they will be arrested soon,” she said.

A loving sister

Aside from building a home for her parents, Joanna took it upon herself to bring her youngest sibling to school.

“That’s one of the reasons why she decided to go abroad,” Criselda said.

Her sister, Joyce, used to take up B.S. Criminology but had to temporarily stop because Joyce failed to send her allowance.

“She used to tell me that she would be there when I graduate,” Joyce said.

Despite what happened, Joyce said she is now more driven to find ways to finish her studies.

Their mother was still doing farm work while their father had to temporarily stop working due to illness.

The OWWA said it followed up the complaint of Joanna’s family but the agency that sent her to Kuwait could not be reached as it had closed shop.

Jack Arroyo, OWWA - Iloilo public information officer, said the government would shoulder the repatriation of Joanna’s remains.

Arroyo said they personally went to Sara on instructions from their main office in Manila.

The OWWA is still awaiting an official report on Joanna’s death from Kuwaiti authorities.

Arroyo said they are also checking on the validity of Joanna’s OWWA membership to ascertain if she would be entitled to insurance, burial, and livelihood assistance to be extended to her family.

He also gave assurance the government would bear litigation costs once charges are pursued against the perpetrators.

An autopsy would be conducted on Joanna’s body,

which bore marks of strangulation assumed to be the cause of her death.

Joanna’s case is among seven recent Filipino deaths in Kuwait that had prompted the government to order a deployment ban to the Gulf state. 

President Duterte has also warned that all Filipinos would be sent home from Kuwait if another worker dies there.