Bello: Appeal for remains of OFWs in KSA to be raised during IATF meet

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Wednesday said he will discuss with other government leaders the appeal of families of overseas Filipino workers who succumbed to COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia for the repatriation of their remains.

"Bagamat mayroon nang decision to just let them be buried in Saudi, eh may panawagan ang mga relative, kin nila na iuwi pa rin sila," Bello said during a Senate hearing.

"Tomorrow, when I report to the Inter-Agency Task Force, I will present to them the appeal of the relatives... Baka sakaling mag-iba ang isip and we will be able to bring them home, all of them, kung iyon ang magiging desisyon ng IATF," he added. "We are prepared to send two airplanes, courtesy of [Transportation] Secretary Tugade."

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde said that current health protocols require the cremation of cadavers infected with COVID-19 before transporting these.

"Sa origin po ang cremation... kailangan sa origin pa lang before it is transferred through the airlines or through the ships, kailangan cremated na," Villaverde said.

"Otherwise, may potential for some form of decomposition kahit na well-preserved ang body at saka potential na maka-contaminate din iyon dahil infectious ang cause of death," he added.

However, cremation is customarily prohibited in Saudi Arabia.

Villaverde said the Department of Health will check if the World Health Organization has existing guidelines covering complicated situations like this.

On Tuesday, the widow of one of the OFWs in Saudi who died due to COVID-19 pleaded to have her husband's body repatriated.

Bello said the latest data from the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) showed that there are 287 bodies of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia with  pending disposition.

"Now there are 107 COVID-related deaths, ang 180 'yung natural causes," he said.

On Sunday, the Palace said OFWs who died in Saudi Arabia due to COVID-19 will be buried there, while those who died of other causes will be brought back to the Philippines. —LBG, GMA News