“Bring home immediately the remains of 10 Filipino workers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan,” President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“The DFA intends to match the DNA samples of the 10 Filipino workers with those in the possession of their employers. Once the identities of the victims, are confirmed, they will be transported to Kuwait and repatriated back to Manila.” These were the statements disclosed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, Jr.
After all the assistance are given to the families of the victims, Conejos said the Department of Labor and Employment, DFA, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will sit down to investigate and find out how these OFWs were able to get to Afghanistan despite the existing travel ban.
Conejos said that aside from Afghanistan, there is an existing deployment ban on four other countries namely Iraq, Nigeria, Jordan and Lebanon. (PIA)