Gov’t urged to investigate OFW’s ‘suicide’

MANILA, Philippines - Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello urged the government yesterday to reinvestigate the death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Alona Bagayan in Dubai last Feb. 5.

Bello said while authorities in Dubai have concluded that the Filipina domestic helper committed suicide, the autopsy conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) indicated that her cause of death was “uncertain.”

He said authorities in Dubai have concluded that Bagayan “chose to kill herself via three methods: first, by cutting her right forearm; then by stabbing herself seven times; and then, after inflicting these mortal wounds on herself, by walking from the bathroom to the balcony (of her employer’s unit in a residential building) to jump to the ground below.”

Bello noted that “while not impossible, this suicide by multiple means is not credible.”

Bagayan left for Dubai on Jan. 30 and was reported to have died six days later on Feb. 5. The NBI did an autopsy in March when her remains were repatriated.