Remains of OFW in Hong Kong fire return to Isabela
TUGUEGARAO CITY—Almost a month after she died in the Nov. 26 massive fire in Hong Kong, the remains of Isabela-based Overseas Filipino Worker Maryann “Maryan”Esteban have landed at the airport in Tuguegarao City at 9:28 a.m. on Sunday.
The 40-year-old domestic help’s body, placed in a plastic-sealed casket, was then ferried to her home in the remote village of Santa Isabel in Jones town, where her relatives will hold a wake starting on Sunday night.
Relatives of Esteban and officials and workers of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) and civil aviation authorities were on hand to receive the body at the airport.
According to DMW Secretary Hans Cadac, the agency would expedite the release of assistance and benefits due to Esteban’s 10-year-old son, “who is also assured to finish college with the ample fund” from the OWWA and the DMW.”
Cacdac said he went to Hong Kong to personally followup the shipping of Esteban’s remains to the Philippines.
‘Kind, helpful’
Esteban’s parents—Jaime Medina, 68, and Manayon Esteban-Medina, 65—had earlier appealed to the government to speed up the return of their daughter’s remains to her family.
They described their daughter “as kind, helpful and obedient.”
The mother explained that Maryan carried her maiden name due to an erroneous birth certificate.
The OWWA earlier promised to arrange that Maryan’s son Ralph would be placed in the care of her sister after her parents said they were too old to take care of the boy, who was Maryan’s child sired by a foreigner while she was working abroad.
Maryan worked in Lebanon for ten years before moving to Hong Kong where she was about to complete her fourth year before her death.
Mary Anne was supposed to come home on Dec. 16 to be with her son and other family members for the holidays. She was also considering to stay in the Philippines for good to supervise her son’s schooling, who is finishing Grade 6.
Mary Anne was one of those who died in the fire at the Wang Fuk Court Residential Complex in Tai Pok District Hong Kong. Her 5-year-old ward was among the initial survivors but who also later died in the fire that claimed at least 160 lives.
