Phl embassy in Saudi sends Pinay's body home sans eye, tongue

MANILA, Philippines -  After repatriating the wrong cadaver, the Philippine embassy in Saudi Arabia sent home the remains of another overseas Filipino worker (OFW), this time with body parts missing, a migrant workers’ group said yesterday.

Romilyn Ibanez’s “body has arrived, but she is missing an eye and her tongue,” said her sister, Mira, according to Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Ibanez was believed to have been murdered in September 2010 in the kitchen of her employer’s house in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, but her remains were repatriated only a year after her death.

Based on medical records, Ibanez died due to acid ingestion and stab wounds.

Last year, Ambassador Antonio Villamor met and discussed Ibanez’s case with Prince Mohammad bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz al Saud, emir of the Eastern Province, who assured him that they are looking closely into the case and that he will see to it that justice is served.

In February 2011, the Philippine embassy received copies of the investigation and forensic reports from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it did not disclose the content of the investigation and forensic reports.

However, Monterona said an embassy official who requested anonymity revealed that the investigation and forensic reports stated that Ibanez committed suicide.

A few months ago, the Philippine embassy in Saudi sent home a cadaver mistaken to be that of a Filipino worker Daniel Ubungen, who died in a tank explosion.

After failing to get the remains of Ubungen, his family decided to give a decent burial to the unidentified body.