The body of slain overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Ma. Constancia Layug Dayag arrived from Kuwait yesterday as authorities in the Philippines assured the public that they will conduct an investigation into her death.
The remains of the 47-year-old domestic worker, a native of Agadanan in Isabela province, arrived at 5pm yesterday, reported GMA News. Members of her family were crying upon her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. They were accompanied by staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Dayag started working in Kuwait in 2016.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Dayag allegedly died at the hands of her employer, Bader Ibrahim Mohammad Hussain. A piece of cucumber was also found in her genitals, reported The Philippine Daily Inquirer. She was rushed to the Al Sabah Hospital in Kuwait on May 14 but was declared dead on arrival.
DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a tweet that Dayag was “bludgeoned to death.”
She was bludgeoned to death. We are not throwing this mutilated woman under the bus of recruiting agencies that think only of self-profit and never of others’ protection. https://t.co/E8tjRvi7pq
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) May 23, 2019
However, an official statement from the DFA released yesterday said that the cause of Dayag’s death is still being investigated by the Al Sabah Hospital.
“The DFA has endorsed the case to the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which will undertake an independent autopsy and perform toxicology tests on the remains to determine the cause of death of Ms. Dayag,” said the DFA.
It added that it will also ask permission from Dayag’s family to bring her cadaver to the University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) Forensic Morgue for a similar examination.
DFA Assistant Secretary Emmanuel Fernandez told ABS-CBN News that Dayug’s employer is currently facing a felony murder charge in connection with the OFW’s death. The complaint against him was filed by the Kuwaiti General Prosecutor’s Office and supported by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.
