Group asks PHL govt: Repatriate ailing Pinay in Saudi

An alliance of Filipino migrants is urging Philippine officials in Saudi Arabia to hasten the repatriation of an ailing 70-year-old Filipina there. Migrante said Irene Sto. Domingo has been staying at the Philippine government-run shelter, Bahay Kalinga, for two months. "We requested the embassy to expedite her repatriation so that she could at least be with her family during her sunset years," Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Monterona said in an interview posted on news site Arab News Sunday. Sto. Domingo, who is from Sta. Cruz, Manila arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1984 to work as a maid. She eventually ran away from her sponsor. Bahay Kalinga, supervised by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, is a government facility for women OFW (overseas Filipino worker) run aways. Monterona said the embassy's reply so far has been disappointing "as it did not provide us any hope or even indication that Sto. Domingo would be repatriated as soon as possible considering her present condition." Arab News said Monterona contacted last Saturday the embassy official handling Sto. Domingo's case, but the official did not answer the call. Under the amended Migrant Workers Act, or Republic Act 10022, the government mandates a mandatory repatriation of underage migrant workers, according to the Migrante coordinator. "But how about the mandatory repatriation of sick OFWs or those 70 years old and above?" Monterona asked. Before she was admitted to Bahay Kalinga, Sto. Domingo was staying with another Filipina, Marcelina Calimag, a dressmaker in Nassim. Sto. Domingo — an illegal resident in Saudi Arabia — continued working washing clothes, sewing dresses, and cleaning houses. Calimag eventually asked Sto. Domingo to stay with her. Last Dec. 17, however, Calimag sought the help of Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan, an affiliate of Migrante-Middle East, regarding the repatriation of Sto. Domingo. — JE/VS, GMA News Online