Family of Filipina quake victim in Turkey thanks gov’t for repatriation of her remains

LUCENA CITY — The family in this city of Wilma Tezcan, one of the overseas Filipino workers who died in the quake in Turkey, expressed relief that her remains will be brought back home through the efforts of the Philippine government.

“We’re so thankful to the government and to all who supported our appeal to bring her home,” William Abulad, 67, Wilma’s father, said in an online interview on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11).

However, he appealed to the government to shoulder the cost of the repatriation of her body as they lack the money for the expenses.

“Once her body arrives in Manila, we will do everything to bring her to Lucena,” he said.

Abulad said Lucena Mayor Mark Alcala and his father, Vice Mayor Rhoderick, promised to help during a personal meeting with them on Friday (Feb. 10).

On Saturday, the Philippine Embassy in Turkey said it is arranging the immediate repatriation of the remains of Tezcan who died in the powerful Turkey quake last Monday (Feb. 6). The embassy said the move was in response to the request of her daughter and Turkish husband.

Tezcan’s body was pulled out from the rubble by rescuers Thursday (Feb. 9) in Antakya City in Hatay, the worst-hit area near the border to Syria.

In her one-minute video message on her Facebook Friday night, Irish Nicole Abulad, 25, Tezcan’s daughter with her estranged husband in the Philippines, appealed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Senator Raffy Tulfo to help her bring the remains of her late mother back home.

The family was desperate to bring Wilma’s remains back to the country after they learned from news reports that the fatalities in the tremors were being buried right away in mass graves.

Abulad said the remains of his daughter were being temporarily kept in refrigerated storage in Turkey.

Main supporter of family

According to Abulad, a former village councilor and now barangay tanod (village watchman) in Barangay (village) Ilayang Dupay here, their daughter was the main supporter in the family.

“She became an OFW (overseas Filipino worker) to help us financially. She always called home [via Facebook call]. She wanted to build a house on the lot she bought here,” he said.

Wilma first went to Japan and worked there for two months. It was followed by another work stint in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

She was in her ninth year in Turkey, William said.

She married a Turkish man named Gurol Tezcan, who works in the food delivery business, in a Muslim wedding rite in Turkey before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. The couple, along with Nicole, has been living in Istanbul.

“Wilma’s husband agreed to have her remains sent home in the Philippines under the condition that she would have a Muslim burial,” William said.

Wilma was working as a child caretaker to a Turkish family who also resides in Istanbul. The family of her employer and Wilma were on vacation in the city of Antakya when the tremor struck.

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