ALICIA, Zamboanga Sibugay (MindaNews/23 September) – Relatives and local officials here urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to “speed up the investigation” on the death of a Filipina in Singapore on August 30.

A report from the Singaporean police said Janeth Calamohoy, a 25-year-old resident of this town, died from “multiple injuries” after jumping from the fifth floor of a condominium where she and her live-in partner stayed.

Calamohoy was buried on September 14 amid calls from her closest kin for the government to speed up the investigation of her death.

Her younger sister, Selfa, in an interview yesterday said she is “determined to pursue the investigation”.

“We are convinced that my sister did not commit suicide as reported,” she stressed, adding, “the injuries to which my sister succumbed to clearly indicate that there was something wrong.”

She said there were tell-tale signs on her sister’s face aside from the fracture on her skull, in the back of her head.

According to her, if her sister “really jumped from the fifth floor of the building where she lived with her live-in partner, she must have hit the pavement face down.”

“The broken skull in the back of her head indicates that my sister did not hit the pavement face down,” she said.

An autopsy was conducted on the remains in Zamboanga City after it arrived from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last September 7. The results of the autopsy were not yet available.

The younger Calamohoy is set to leave for Singapore this week with the help of a friend in order to coordinate with Singaporean authorities and also to meet with Janeth’s live-in partner, Danish national Kristensen Lars Hyldgaard.

“It is important for me and my family to know the details of what happened to my sister before she died,” she explained.

Calamohoy’s family did not know when and how Janeth began living in Singapore. They claimed that they vaguely know about Hyldgaard except that “she had a son with him”.

Their last contact with her was during her recent visit to the family in June.

The Department of Labor and Employment through its provincial offie here extended assistance to the family even if she was not an Overseas Filipino Worker.

Imelda Gatinao, DOLE provincial director, said Calamohoy was staying in Singapore as a tourist.

DOLE records said Calamohoy was having a long-term social visit to Singapore with Hyldgaard as the sponsor.

“But we immediately extended assistance to her family especially in bringing the remains to her hometown,” she said.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had already asked the Philippine Embassy in Singapore to ask the host government to shed light on the case.

“Despite the fact that she is not an OFW, we are still obliged to help ferret out the truth because she is a Filipino,” she added.

The local government of Alicia, through a council resolution, is also “asking the DFA to speed up the investigation.” (Antonio M. Manaytay/MindaNews)

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