JAEN, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – The 18-year-old daughter of an OFW who was found lifeless inside the home of a distant relative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has sought the help of the Duterte government to bring home the remains of her mother.
Chelzie Gamboa, 18, and her brother Cedrix, 15, are hoping their mother’s body will soon be coming home despite the tragic incident.
Migrant worker Daisy Gamboa, 48, a native of Jaen, had worked as a beautician in Saudi Arabia.
According to her sister Maryann de Guzman, Daisy had run away from her first employer over the alleged irregular payment of her salary.
Mary Ann said her sister filed a complaint against the first employer before the Office of Labor in Riyadh, and both settled the case, with an agreement for Gamboa to transfer to another employer. Supposedly, there was an agreement between the second employer and the former boss to settle all documents regarding Gamboa’s transfer. However, the second employer failed to fulfill his end of the agreement, forcing Gamboa to return to the original boss.
According to Mary Ann, “my sister was already ill and depressed when she was taken again by her former boss,” who allegedly “threatened her that she will be imprisoned and charged with prostitution since the second boss failed to settle the documents regarding her transfer.”
Gamboa eventually escaped from the original boss and went to the place of a distant relative whom they called “Tita Imelda.”
After a few days of staying with their aunt, they were shocked when they heard the news that Gamboa committed suicide by hanging herself inside the residence of Imelda.
The family is not convinced that Gamboa killed herself, and are seeking government’s help to find out the truth.
Meanwhile, according to Mary Ann, the manning agency that recruited her sister – Anchor International Manpower Agency – declined to help Daisy despite the latter’s pleas for help. They are also still awaiting till press time the help promised by the Riyadh office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Gamboa was supposed to return home last February but failed to do so because of the problems with her papers, and so had her stay extended, until she was found dead on April 27.
