Philippine govt urged to help OFW whose family was slain back home

A migrants’ rights group has called on the Philippine government to provide assistance to an Italy-based overseas. Filipino worker (OFW) whose father-in-law, wife and two children were massacred early Thursday in a village in Balagtas, Bulacan. The victims have been identified as Rodrigo Roque, 77, his daughter Cristina Roque Santa Ana, 42, and her children Corine Joy, 12, and Christian, 10. Police believed that the motive could be robbery but are puzzled since there were no signs of forced entry into the victims’ house.  “As we extend our condolences to our fellow OFW and his relatives, we condemn the gruesome killings of his wife, children, and father in-law. It’s really shocking and painful for an OFW rushing to fly home only to see the lifeless bodies of his loved ones,” said Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona, who is also from Bulacan.

Monterona added that the Philippine National Police must launch a hot pursuit to nab the ruthless criminals and to book them for their heinous crime.
Monterona also called on the government agencies concerned to provide assistance to the OFW.
“We call on the Philippine government agencies to provide to our fellow OFW the needed assistance, legal and financial, as well as burial assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),” Monterona added.

Monterona noted that this was not for the first time that OFW families were victimized by criminals.
“OFW families, in the absence of either the father or the mother or even both, become an easy target of criminals. The authorities, local police and Barangay officials, must provide protection to OFW families and children by improving and intensifying anti-crime operations within the OFW communities,” Monterona said.