MANILA— Two Filipina household service workers in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon were reported to have committed suicide last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
The agency, through Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato, said the Philippine embassies in Beirut and Riyadh are now closely coordinating with local authorities to determine if there was no foul play in the deaths of the two overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
The names of the victims were not revealed, but according to DFA, the Filipina worker in Lebanon who came from Cagayan, committed suicide by jumping off her employer’s sixth floor apartment in Beirut on June 11.
Meanwhile, the second incident involved a Filipina from Agusan del Sur, who allegedly hanged herself inside her employer’s residence in Al Hasa, some 350 kilometers from Riyadh on June 12.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano made assurances the DFA will extend necessary assistance to the bereaved families, including the repatriation of the two OFWs’ remains as soon as possible.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that two of our kababayan reportedly decided to take their own lives while working abroad and away from their families,” he said in a statement.
“Our thoughts and prayers to the loved ones they left behind.” (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA)
