Kin of dead OFW from Bukidnon seeks PDut’s help

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The relatives of the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who died in Kuwait reportedly due to suicide last December have asked the Duterte administration to help them in uncovering the mystery surrounding her death.

What baffled the family of Liezl Trus Hukdong, 33, when her remains arrived here on Jan. 5 was why several of her organs were removed when it was reported that she killed herself while working for a Kuwaiti

employer in that country. Liezl’s niece Gracel Ann Hukdong said they still have no full knowledge of what really happened to her aunt.

Gracel said they only knew about Liezl’s death when her employer got in touch with them and informed them that her aunt hanged herself.

In her Facebook page, Gracel posted photos of her aunt badly bruised and the middle part of the front of her body, from the bottom lip down to her navel, sewn.

According to Gracel, her lungs, kidneys, brain, including her eyes and tongue were removed. Her skull appeared broken. The inside of her upper body was said to be stuffed with pieces of clothing.

“We doubted the cause of her death. They said she committed suicide. But why remove her organs? We want somebody to tell us the truth of her death,” she said in a phone interview over the weekend.

Liezl was buried in Liloan, Cebu, on Jan. 7. Gracel said it was decided by her family to put her to rest in Liloan as most of her relatives are from there.

Gracel said they are now making efforts to contact the office of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to help them in solving the death of Liezl.

“We are calling on Pres. Duterte to help us. We want our questions to be answered. We still could not believe that she died of suicide,” she added.

Liezl was from Barangay San Isidro, Valencia City in Bukidnon. She is survived by her two children, 11 and 9, who are living temporarily in Cebu. She separated from her husband a few years back.

To find greener pastures, Liezl sought employment in the Middle East and on Dec. 17, 2016 she flew to Kuwait and started her employment as a house help there.

Gracel noted that Liezl had a constant communication with her family on social media. They were confident that she would not feel homesick since a relative, Jerchell Jurial, was also working in Kuwait, was there to keep her company.

From her arrival in Kuwait up to October last year, Gracel said Liezl frequently got in touch with them. It was only in November when the video calls and chats stopped. At the time also, her Facebook account was deactivated.

“We asked our relative (Jurial) what happened to Liezl. She assured us that there’s nothing to worry about. When we asked for a photo of my aunt, she just replied ‘Okay ra jud’ (it’s okay),” Gracel said.

On Dec. 19, or more than a year after working in Kuwait, Gracel said Liezl’s employer called up her relatives to tell them of her death.

“We did not expect that she would do it to herself. That’s why were shocked when we learned of what happened to her,” Gracel said in her post on Facebook.

If Liezl indeed committed suicide, Gracel asked, “why were there bruises all over her body?” and if an autopsy was conducted, “was it really necessary to remove the organs and not put them back?”

Gracel also questioned the inconsistencies in her aunt’s death records as they are demanding to have a copy of the autopsy.

She added they were also confused why Liezl was still recorded as “active” in the records of regional office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Northern Mindanao (Owwa-10) even after her death.

As of this writing, Owwa-10 has yet to issue a statement regarding this concern.