OFW Who Died in Kuwait Kept Her Sickness a Secret from Her Kids

Jeanette Opido, an OFW in Kuwait, kept her sickness from her children in the Philippines before her death, GMA News’ JP Soriano reported on 24 Oras on Thursday.

Although Opido’s death certificate said she died of pneumonia, doubts still linger over what really caused her death.

“‘Yun po kasi ‘yung gusto namin malaman, kung ano nangyari dun sa Kuwait kasi wala po kami talagang kaalam-alam,” said Mariel Bantisil, one of Opido’s eight children.

Another one of her children, Gladys Bantisil, noted the drastic drop in her mother’s weight. “Bakit po ganu’n na siya kapayat? Agad bagsak na ‘yung katawan niya,” she said.

A week before Opido died on February 23, a video surfaced on Facebook showing her looking emaciated and appealing for help to go home to the Philippines.

“Parang awa niyo naman na. Pauwiin niyo na kao. Kaya ko naman na umuwi. Kumpleto naman na papel ko. Lahat naman na ginawa ko. Dito na lang ba ako mamamatay sa kuwarto na ito?” she said.

Opido’s recruitment agency in the Philippine said it attended to her case.

“From the time na malaman namin ‘yun, nag-visit [na kami sa kanya],” said Mary Rose Santos, the welfare officer assigned to Opido.

Nevertheless, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration  (OWWA) said it would look into Opido’s case to determine what really happened with her.

“I would like to assure the family na titignan po natin kung ano talaga ang nangyari sa kanya,” said Albert Valenciano, head of OWWA’s Policy and Program Development Office.

“Pero at this point, records show na siya naman po ay namatay because of natural cause,” he added.

Opido left for Kuwait in May 2016. Her body arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday morning. —KBK, GMA News

(Source: GMAnetwork.com)