ILOILO City – Malacañang vowed to hasten the repatriation of the remains of slain Ilonggo overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Angelo Claveria from South Korea.
The Claveria family received a call from President Rodrigo Duterte’s special assistant, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, inquiring about their concerns.
“We asked for the speedy repatriation of our brother and for justice,” Mayette Claveria, sister of Angelo, told Panay News.
Go will be meeting the Claveria family here on May 27.
“We also need legal assistance. Our brother was killed in South Korea. We don’t have the means to follow up the case there,” said Mayette.
Go informed the family based in Cabatuan, Iloilo that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be shouldering the cost of repatriation.
Angelo went missing in South Korea in January 2016. Last month, his skeletal remains were found in a septic tank of a water purifier plant there.
Last week, the Claveria family asked Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. for help. They wanted Angelo’s skeletal remains repatriated for a proper burial in Cabatuan.
Claveria went to South Korea in July 2014 to work as a metal cutter. He was last in touch with his family in December 2015.
His worried family reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Office – Iloilo on Feb. 20 this year to help them determine Claveria’s whereabouts.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) last week urged the South Korean government to speed up the investigation on Claveria’s death in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi province.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) consular office in Iloilo City, the South Korean police suspected this to be a murder case and an OFW had been tagged a person of interest.
Claveria may have been hit on the head with a hard object, according to the initial information reaching DFA.
Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul Hernandez said the South Korean police were still collecting more evidence that would firm up its suspicion against their prime suspect.
“Ayaw magsabi ng pulis (sa Philippine embassy) kung ano ang mga ebidensya pero mukhang kaibigan, magkaibigan sila…magkakilala sila,” said Hernandez who decline to identify the suspect.
“The Philippine embassy is not releasing the identity of the prime suspect so as not to preempt the ongoing investigation of the South Korean police,” he added. “The South Korean authorities believe that the suspect is already in the Philippines.”/PN
