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'To serve and protect'

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Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is.
-Patricia Evangelista, in her award-winning speech "Blonde and Blue Eyes"



27 June 2007. It was a long, rather harrowing day. I was doing research at an airport warehouse along with two friends. The airport was so far from home, but that Wednesday, something hit close to home.

While we were waiting at the warehouse, three OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) from the United Arab Emirates arrived home--in boxes.

Airport workers there say that around five OFWs come home dead everyday. And that's just in their warehouse. There are several warehouses scattered around NAIA.

For the three dead OFWs, the long journey was not over. I heard that the bodies would be brought back way up north--the coffins were marked "Cagayan," while the vehicles transporting them came from the Apayao local government. A lady who accompanied the bodies home said that the Filipino community in UAE raised funds to transport two of the bodies, since only one was given government support.

View the full series here.

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Mahabang nakalulungkot na pagbabalik
Araw-araw, nagdadalamhati ang kaanak ng mga OFW sa pagdating ng kanilang nasawing mahal sa buhay sa isang bahaging ito ng Naia.

Kenneth Roland A. Guda, Pinoy Weekly

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Bodies of 3 OFWs from Abu Dhabi arriving Wednesday
ABS-CBN Interactive

The remains of three Filipinos who died in an accident in Abu Dhabi this month are arriving in the Philippines on Wednesday, DZMM reported.

Victims Jay-Ar de San Jose, his brother, Emanuel de San Jose, and wife, Charmaine Bielza de San Jose, are set to arrive via Etihad Airways at 2:30 p.m.

The three died after being hit by a car driven by a 19-year-old United Arab Emirates national at the Sinaiyah road in Al Ain on June 14. The two brothers died on the spot while Charmaine died at the Al Jimi Hospital.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Libran Cabactulan said the brothers’ mother, also an overseas Filipino worker in UAE, has been admitted to the Al Jimi Psychiatric Department due to shock.

The ambassador added that the driver has also been admitted to the Tawam Hospital in Al Ain after suffering from shock. He is under police custody, he added.

Emanuel worked for a trading company in Dubai while his wife Charmaine was newly hired by an advertising agency in Al Ain. Jay-Ar was a holder of a visit visa in Dubai.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said two of the victims may not receive death benefits since they were working in the country illegally.

Ed Piquero of the OWWA Cooperation Center said only Emanuel is entitled to receive P220,000 in death benefits from the government.
Image size
825x634px 99.17 KB
Make
SONY
Model
DSC-V1
Shutter Speed
10/2500 second
Aperture
F/4.0
Focal Length
7 mm
ISO Speed
100
Date Taken
Jun 27, 2007, 5:50:21 PM
Comments5
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jonnabebeh's avatar
tsk tsk. nakakalungkot talaga ang kalagayan ng mga migrante. napalayo na nga sila sa mga pamilya nila at umalis ng bansa para maghanapbuhay, pero p*tangin*ang gobyerno 'yan, wala ka man lang makita at maramdamang suporta galing sa kanila. nakakapangulo lang talaga ng dugo. :angered: