KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/16 Sept) – Relatives of a Filipina domestic helper Romelyn Eroy-Ibañez, who was killed by acid burning and stab wounds in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), are seeking justice.
The Philippine Embassy in the KSA earlier reported that that Ibañez died on Sept. 8.
“The way the story was told to me was so shocking. My sister is such a good person,” said Annabelle Eroy-Fuertes, the victim’s elder sister. “She doesn’t deserve such kind of death,” she added.
Fuertes described her sister as very pious. She was in fact a scholar of a Diocesan priest since elementary until she completed college. Romelyn reportedly wanted to join the nunnery after college but because of poverty, she decided to work abroad.
Romelyn, after her graduation, was convinced by an elder sister, Romelie, to try working as domestic help abroad.
Their recruiter was reportedly based in Cotabato City. The two left Manila for the Middle East last May.
Romelie’s destination was Kuwait while Romelyn, the KSA.
Her other sister Mira is also working as a domestic help in Egypt since 2007.
While abroad, Romelyn has not sent any money to her parents in Poblacion in Arakan, a hinterland town in North Cotabato. That surprised them, Fuertes said.
“Our parents have not heard of the report yet. For sure, they would also be shocked. I don’t know how to break the news to them,” she added.
Fuertes has sought the help of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in North Cotabato so her remains could be brought back and that she would be given a decent burial.
Romelyn, embassy officials said, had knife wounds in her neck, abdomen and wrist as well as acid burns in her mouth, arms and legs.
The victim was taken to the King Fahd Hospital in Al-Khobar after she was found in the kitchen at her employer’s residence. (Malu Cadeliña Manar / MindaNews)