February 17, 2010 – The remains of the overseas Filipino worker, Mary Grace Fabian, recovered from the rubbles of a collapsed grocery in quake-stricken Haiti will be arriving on Friday (February 19, 2010) on board PR 103 at about 5.05 am.
This was announced by Administrator Carmelita S. Dimzon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Ms. Fabian’s father, Arturo, has been advised about the arrival schedule and is expected to be at the PAL cargo terminal / Philippine Skylander, Inc., to claim the remains.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave instructions to Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo during a Cabinet meeting to repatriate the Haiti casualty after learning of Arturo’s appeal.
Dimzon said the OWWA repatriation team will also assist the Fabian family in complying with airport procedures on Friday.
OWWA and the DFA share the costs of repatriating Filipinos affected by the killer quake in Haiti. In January and early this month, the two agencies jointly helped in flying home 63 Filipino survivors in five batches.
Dimzon said that government makes no distinction whether those brought home during emergencies were members or non-members of OWWA, adults or children.
The offer of the government to repatriate more Filipino evacuees from Haiti stands, the OWWA said.
Assisting during the earlier airport arrivals were the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which helped the evacuees with trauma counselling, and the Philippine National Red Cross, which rendered medical services.