Labor department to search for recruiters of Demafelis

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the recruitment agency of the OFW Joanna Demafelis would be held accountable for what happened to her.

Bello said the recruiters of Demafelis will be accountable "civilly or administratively, unless the Kuwaiti police have evidence to link them to the violent death of Joanna."

In an interview over dzBB, Bello said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will look for the recruiters of Demafelis, who was found dead inside a freezer in Kuwait.

"Hahanapin natin 'yun [nag-recruit kay Joanna Demafelis]," he said.

In a text message to GMA News Online, the Labor chief said that the DOLE will search for the recruiters of Demafelis "through NBI (National Bureau of Investigation)/police works."

"Coordination with Kuwaiti authorities is [also] in place," Bello said.

On the report that one of two suspects in the murder of Demafelis has been accosted, Bello said charges should be filed.

"Dapat sampahan siya (suspek sa pagkamatay ni Joanna Demafelis) ng kasong murder ng Kuwaiti Government para ipakita nila ang pagprotekta sa ating mga kababayan. Justice will be done," he said.

Bello added that DOLE has set up a command center that is tasked to monitor complaints filed by OFWs. 

Earlier in February, the remains of Demafelis was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment unit in Kuwait last week, more than a year after her family in the Philippines first reported that she hasn't been contacting them. The remains of the slain OFW was brought home to her province of Iloilo last Saturday.

Demafelis' remains will be laid to rest at the Sara Public Cemetery on March 3. — BAP, GMA News