Tragic OFW came home in coffin wearing only adult diaper

By ROY C. MABASA

September 19, 2011, 7:58pm

MANILA, Philippines — Three certificates stipulating conflicting dates of death accompanied the remains of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) recently repatriated to Manila from Jordan.

To make matters worse, the deceased OFW Janice Joy Pampangan, 25, a native of Makilala, Kidapawan, South Cotabato, returned home in a coffin wearing nothing but adult diaper.

These were the allegations raised by Pampangan's kin when they recently sought the assistance of Migrante's local chapter in Davao City several days after the arrival of the OFW's remains last September 13.

Based on the affidavit issued by Pampangan's mother and sister, one death certificate indicated the OFW died on June 21 the other June 22, while the third July 22 all in the year 2010.

Another inconsistency found on the documents sent along with Pampangan's remains, according to Migrante-Middle East regional director John Leonard Monterona, was the date of the autopsy (May 9, 2010) which took place ahead of her reported date of death of May 22, 2010 as relayed by her employer to the family in a text message.

Monterona said what is quite alarming is that Philippine Embassy officials in Jordan did not even bother to question these inconsistencies, "which would lead one to doubt the circumstances of her death."

According to Monterona, Pampangan was deployed on September 15, 2005 by a Parañaque-based Almeladi recruitment agency to work as a domestic worker for a Jordanian household.

She signed a two-year contract and successfully completed it 2007. However, she was not allowed by her employer to go home despite her plea until her family received the bad news about her death.