Kin of deceased Pinoy in Saudi receive wrong remains

Philippine officials have started investigating how the family in the Philippines of a deceased overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia received the remains of another person. The Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia said the remains that were shipped to the family of Danniely Ubungen were not his but of a Turkish co-worker who died with him in a blast in June. The case illustrates a nightmare scenario for many overseas Filipinos who work far from any relatives who could easily identify them and attend to the numerous logistical details in the event of death. Responsibility of employer The embassy said that some responsibility for the switched corpses may fall on Ubungen's employer. "After being informed of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the mistake, the Embassy immediately contacted the sponsor and the shipper to seek an explanation for the error. As of this time, the sponsor, shipper and the Embassy are all investigating the circumstances surrounding this matter," the Embassy said in a news release. The Embassy pointed out that under Saudi law, the "shipment of remains of an expatriate worker who died in the Kingdom is the responsibility of the sponsor." "Not only is the employer obliged to obtain all documents required for the shipment, but should also secure the flight to the Philippines. It is also the duty of the employer to proceed to the Hospital Morgue to release the deceased’s human remains and transport it to the airport," the embassy said. According to the embassy, the employer should verify the identity of the remains before placement in the casket and transport to the airport. The Embassy is now coordinating with both the sponsor and the shipper "in an effort to ascertain where the mistake occurred." Acetylene tank explosion Migrante Middle East, an advocacy group, said Ubungen died along other three fellow co-workers, died in an acetylene tank explosion at their workshop in June. "The PH embassy has a designated official in-charge in the repatriation of OFWs remains. If it failed to supervise or arrange to assist the employer in the repatriation of OFW's remains, then this mistake -repatriating wrong remains to the bereaved family of the OFW will happen again and again," Migrante Middle East coordinator John Monterona said. "An apology to the Ubungen family by the employer and the PH embassy is not even enough. The Philippine embassy must impose disciplinary action on its official-in-charge in the repatriation of remains," he added. There is no word yet where Ubungen's body was sent, surely surprising another family somewhere else in the world. — LBG/VVP/HS, GMA News