OFW dies inside Phl half-way house in Jeddah -- Migrante

An overseas Filipino worker seeking assistance from the Philippine consulate in Jeddah for his repatriation died the other day, a migrant workers' rights group said on Friday.

Quoting reports from their colleagues in Jeddah, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Monterona said Danilo Grefadilyo, a native of Sorsogon, reportedly died inside the Philippine consulate building where the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center is also located.

However, Monterona added that his group is still verifying the report with Philippine Consulate and labor officials.

"His exact age can’t be known yet as of this posting, but it is believed that he is more than 60 years old," Monterona said, citing reports from Migrante colleagues in Jeddah, where around 2,500 stranded OFWs have camped out beside the Philippine Consulate building since Apr. 10.

He said that Grefadilyo had been suffering from ulcer.

After Grefadilyo's brief admission to a hospital in Jeddah, Monterona said the OFW was admitted as ward at the Filipinbo Workers Resource Center  until the news broke out the other day that Grefadilyo died.

"His case should be treated an emergency situation. He should be confined in a hospital to attend health condition while attending his repatriation formalities," Monterona said.

He noted that Grefadilyo's case is not isolated, citing the case of 72- year-old Mateo Amaro, from Caloocan City, who died on Sept. 18, 2012.

Monterona said three weeks after Mateo’s confinement at King Fahad Hospital due to stage 3 tuberculosis, Mateo died.

Six months after, Mateo's body was returned to his family in Caloocan City, he added.

"These incidents show Philippine government's gross neglect, which is tantamount to criminal neglect, in providing assistance to distressed and stranded OFWs whom the government hails as ‘modern heroes’," Monterona said