DFA Brings Home Body of Killed Filipina in Kuwait, Hires Top Lawyer to Handle the Case

Following a series of unfortunate events, the body of the killed OFW Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende, the Filipina household service worker (HSW) reportedly killed by the employer’s wife in Kuwait last month, arrived this afternoon in Manila last January 8 (Wednesday).

In line with this, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has appointed a top-notch criminal lawyer in Kuwait to pursue the case against the perpetrators and ensure that justice is served.

DFA Repatriates Body of Killed OFW in Kuwait, Enlists Top-Notch Lawyer to Handle the Case
Credits: DFA-OUMWA and Nilo Palaya

Body of Killed OFW Sent Home, DFA to Hire Top Lawyer to Handle the Case

The alleged perpetrators of the horrid crime, Jeanelyn’s employer and his wife, remain in jail in Kuwait to this day.

The plane carrying Villavende’s body landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Wednesday afternoon. Her remains will be flown to General Santos City and from there brought to her hometown in South Cotabato.

As per an embalming certificate released by Kuwait’s Ministry of Health confirmed that 26-year-old Villavende was killed on December 28, 2019. Before the release of the document on Tuesday, the exact date of her death was unknown. Her family only learned about her death on December 30, 2019.

In a separate interview by CNN, Villavende’s stepmother reported that they had not talked to her in two months since her Kuwaiti employee would not allow her to take calls.

Based on an autopsy conducted in Kuwait, Villavende died of “acute failure of heart and respiration” as a result of shock and multiple injuries in the vascular nervous system.

Aside from commissioning a top-caliber lawyer who will pursue the case against the killers of Villavende in Kuwait, the DFA revealed that they released P100,000 in financial aid to the Villavende family. 

Commenting on the issue, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. tweeted, “For what they did to her, the death penalty is a mercy,” assuring that “there will be blood.”

Locsin also vowed to go after the local recruiter of Villavende. 

For their part, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra shared that the National Bureau of Investigation will conduct a separate autopsy on Villavende’s body. Authorities have said Villavende had been beaten “black and blue” before being rushed to the hospital.

As a response to the incident, the Philippine government has since stopped sending newly-hired household service workers to Kuwait. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the partial deployment ban may be lifted once justice is served for Villavende.

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