MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 18, 2012) – An elderly Filipino man suffering from diabetes and tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia had died on Tuesday barely two weeks after he appealed to the Philippine government to help him return home, according to Migrante-Middle East.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante’s regional coordinator, who quoted reports by Marlon Gatdula, chairman of Migrante in Jeddah, said the 72-year old Mateo Amaro died at around 10 a.m. at the King Fahad Hospital.
Migrante and other Filipino workers who took pity on the plight of Amaro brought him to the hospital for emergency medical treatment.
“His being undocumented deprived him to be home – just like the thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers – and reunite with his family,” Monterona said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Monterona said Migrante officers and members in Jeddah have already contributed to provide air ticket for Amaro after failing to get any assistance from Philippine diplomatic officials in Saudi Arabia.
“Though we already paid and secured an air ticket for Amaro, still he could not be repatriated pending the issuance of exit clearance from his sponsor-employer,” Monterona said.
He said Migrante officers in Jeddah had been following up Amaro’s repatriation when he was still alive, but Philippine labor attaché Vicente Cabe and a certain Qassim, of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, allegedly ignored the Filipino’s appeal.
Amaro, who hailed from Caloocan City, had been working without proper documents in Saudi Arabia for the past 20 years.
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