MECO aids deceased seafarer’s kin

MECO aids deceased seafarer’s kin
October 5, 2023 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/10/05/meco-aids-deceased-seafarers-kin/

The country’s representative office in Taiwan has recently facilitated the grant of financial assistance to the family of a Filipino fisher employed by a Taiwan fishing company who died while on board a Taiwanese vessel in late June.

Chairman Silvestre Bello III of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office said the case is the first recorded death of an overseas Filipino worker in the jurisdiction of its Kaohsiung field office in southern Taiwan.

The autopsy report indicates that the 28-year old OFW died of heart attack while in high seas.

“We condole with the family of our deceased OFW, and made sure that the appropriate assistance due to the family of our fallen worker is released immediately,” Bello said.

Labor Attaché David Des Dicang of the Migrant Workers Office in Kaohsiung said, however, there was a delay in the processing of the required documentation from concerned agencies due to the misspelled family name in the birth certificate of the OFW. Also, successive typhoons that hit Manila and Taiwan contributed to the delay.

From the time of death on June 30, the remains of the OFW was repatriated to Manila only last September 14 after an autopsy conducted under the supervision of the Taiwan Prosecutor’s Office on August 31, Dicang said in his report to MECO.

Dicang also said expenses were covered by the Taiwanese employer, the owner of Taiwan flag vessel Hua Shan Vessel no. 301, and Kuaijie Manpower Dispatch Co.Ltd.

Aside from the insurance benefit of NT$ 1.5 million (P2.639 million), the family of the OFW from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur will also receive P100,000 in death benefits, burial assistance of P20,000 and livelihood grant of P15,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), he added.

The country’s representative office in Taiwan has recently facilitated the grant of financial assistance to the family of a Filipino fisher employed by a Taiwan fishing company who died while on board a Taiwanese vessel in late June.

Chairman Silvestre Bello III of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office said the case is the first recorded death of an overseas Filipino worker in the jurisdiction of its Kaohsiung field office in southern Taiwan.

The autopsy report indicates that the 28-year old OFW died of heart attack while in high seas.

“We condole with the family of our deceased OFW, and made sure that the appropriate assistance due to the family of our fallen worker is released immediately,” Bello said.

Labor Attaché David Des Dicang of the Migrant Workers Office in Kaohsiung said, however, there was a delay in the processing of the required documentation from concerned agencies due to the misspelled family name in the birth certificate of the OFW. Also, successive typhoons that hit Manila and Taiwan contributed to the delay.

From the time of death on June 30, the remains of the OFW was repatriated to Manila only last September 14 after an autopsy conducted under the supervision of the Taiwan Prosecutor’s Office on August 31, Dicang said in his report to MECO.

Dicang also said expenses were covered by the Taiwanese employer, the owner of Taiwan flag vessel Hua Shan Vessel no. 301, and Kuaijie Manpower Dispatch Co.Ltd.

Aside from the insurance benefit of NT$ 1.5 million (P2.639 million), the family of the OFW from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur will also receive P100,000 in death benefits, burial assistance of P20,000 and livelihood grant of P15,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), he added.

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Another P30,000 in financial assistance from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is also set for release to the family, Dicang also said. ###

*Identity and other circumstances withheld upon request of family