OFW reported comatose in Kuwait back in PH safe and sound: DFA

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday reported that the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) reportedly found comatose in a hospital in Kuwait, which had gone viral in Facebook, is safe and now back home in the Philippines. (Photo by Lindsay Silveira/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

MANILA– The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday reported that the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) reportedly found comatose in a hospital in Kuwait, which had gone viral in Facebook,  is safe and now back home in the Philippines.

DFA said investigations conducted by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait and Riyadh found that the Facebook post on Noraisa Manambit, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Damman, Saudi Arabia, was false.

Both embassy teams worked closely with the local authorities of Kuwait and Riyadh in search of the whereabouts of Manambit, who was reportedly comatose in Kuwait’s Farwaniya Hospital.

According to DFA, officers from the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait combed both Farwaniya Hospital, as well as Amiri Hospital, however, the management and the nurses of both institutions confirmed they had no patient by that name.

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, on the other hand, conducted its own extensive investigation and found out Manambit was in the custody of the Saudi Immigration in Dammam for normal and orderly repatriation with the assistance of Embassy personnel.

According to DFA records, Manambit was first recruited to Saudi Arabia in 2014 and returned to Saudi in June 2017.

She was flown home on Feb. 23, 2018 from Dammam, Saudi Arabia via Gulf Air and was  in excellent condition when met by a team from the DFA Office of Migrant Workers Affairs as well as other allied agencies.

The DFA already extended financial assistance to Manambit and has committed to assisting her in various legal and documentary concerns.