By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Bonagua being wheeled to hospital shortly before she succumbed to cancer |
Deaths in the Filipino community in
Among those who succumbed to cancer last year was domestic helper Merle Bonagua, who died on Sept 20 at age 52 in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She was found to have stage 4 ovarian cancer a month after being plucked from her employer’s house in Saikung by a migrant support group.
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Another prominent death was that of Andrelyn P. Onera, 28, who was found floating unconscious in a pool in Laguna City estate in Lam Tin on Sept. 21, and was declared dead two days later at United Christian Hospital. A coroner is still looking into the cause of her untimely death.
From published reports, however, suicide appears to have caused the deaths of even more Filipinos last year. At least seven such cases were reported by The SUN between February 11 and September 22, mostly involving domestic workers, both male and female; but also a resident who was found dead in a sound studio that he owned.
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Statistics supplied by the Consulate this week showed the
deaths averaged 7.58 a month last year as against 5.42 in 2019. Officials say the
figures do not include deaths of Filipino residents of
Details on the causes of deaths were not available from the
data shared by the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section, which liaises
with relatives of the dead as well as police, hospitals, and
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Cancer in all its forms, grouped as malignant neoplasms, has
consistently been the No.1 killer in
While pneumonia was the secondary killer in
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| Mystery still surrounds the death of Onera in September last year |
Consulate records of reported death cases last year showed four Filipinos dying in January, compared with two deaths in the same month a year earlier.
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The toll jumped in February with seven deaths reported, including two suicides. One involved a domestic helper who hanged herself in Yuen Long on Feb 11 due reportedly to love problems. A male resident took the same path in Sheung Wan 12 days later.
The number eased to four in March but rose to five in April and doubled to 10 in May. After dropping to seven in June, the figure reached nine in July and 10 in August, then stayed high at 12 in September and October before falling to eight in November and plunging to three in December, the lowest for the year.
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In previous years, the Consulate and its attached agencies, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and OWWA, actively promoted health-care awareness among OFWs, especially during the winter, when they are most vulnerable to illness and depression.
The activities were evidently in response to events that directly affected the physical and mental health of workers that could lead to extremes.
Free check-ups and temperature and blood pressure taking were also conducted at the POLO for workers five days a week.
But anti-covid-19 measures implemented by the
|
No. of Filipino deaths
reported to PCG |
||
|
Month |
2019 |
2020 |
|
January |
2 |
4 |
|
February |
5 |
7 |
|
March |
4 |
4 |
|
April |
10 |
5 |
|
May |
5 |
10 |
|
June |
2 |
7 |
|
July |
6 |
9 |
|
August |
8 |
10 |
|
September |
7 |
12 |
|
October |
3 |
12 |
|
November |
7 |
8 |
|
December |
6 |
3 |
|
TOTAL |
65 |
91 |
|
Monthly
avg |
5.42 |
7.58 |
|
Increase
y-o-y (%) |
|
40 |
|
Source:
PCG |
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