Cotabato town asks DFA aid for return of OFW who died in Bahrain

KIDAPAWAN CITY –– The local government of Matalam, Cotabato has asked the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the return into the country of the remains of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) from the town who died in Bahrain.

Matalam Vice Mayor Cheryl Valdevieso-Catamco said she went to the DFA Consular Affairs Office in General Santos City to follow up on the case of her constituent Raihana Mataya, 34, a resident of Barangay Central Malamote, who died due to an alleged accident.

Mataya was said to have fallen from an apartment that she rented in Bahrain on September 25, 2019.

However, the family informed the Matalam local government only on Tuesday (January 14), Catamco said.

Catamco added that Mataya’s parents told her their daughter’s body is being held at the morgue of a Bahrain hospital, used as evidence while a case relating to the apartment accident goes on in court.

Catamco said the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain already knew about Mataya’s case and pledged help for the immediate return of her remains to Matalam.

Mataya has been working in the Middle East for some time. Her records at the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) in Matalam showed that her first deployment was in Damman and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

She was working as a sales clerk in a jewelry shop in Bahrain before her death in 2019./lzb