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| Jocson was found dead inside her cabin aboard the Harmony of the Seas (Cruise Law News photo) |
Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr has decried
the death of a 28-year-old Filipina who took her own life in the cabin of the
cruise ship where she worked because of repeated cancellations of her flight
home.
Locsin said 28-year-old Mariah Jocson, an assistant
waitress, died in her cabin on Jun 10 aboard the Harmony of the Seas cruise
ship docked off Barbados
“It is my sad duty to report that a 28-year-old female
mariner committed suicide in her cabin in the ship where she's had to stay
because repatriation flights back to the Philippines
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He said he knew quarantine facilities in Metro Manila were
jampacked, but he wasn’t sure why.
“We are tartly reminded that Filipino resilience is no
excuse to stretch them to breaking point. Di
sila goma; tao sila (They’re people, not rubber bands),”
Locsin said.
Jocson is the second known OFW to have committed suicide
while awaiting repatriation after losing her job due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Another Filipina worker was earlier reported to have taken
her own life on May 24, while staying at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office
shelter in Lebanon
On Apr 26, a 42-year-old woman repatriated from Kuwait also killed herself as she was about the
end her 14-day quarantine in a government-designated facility in Pasay City
But news blog Cruise Law News said in a recent report that
there were at least three other seafarers who committed suicide while awaiting
repatriation.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye! |
“A week ago, a long term employee from the Philippines
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement
released yesterday, Jun 11, that Malacanang is saddened by Jocson’s death.
“We ask relevant agencies of the government to look into
(the) mental anguish of those adversely affected by Covid-19. The worldwide
pandemic is taking an emotional toll on everyone and we must help our countrymen how to cope
with stress, fear and worry in this challenging time,” Roque said.
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He added the government is looking for ways to speed up the
return of all OFWs from all over the world.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he would
investigate Joscon’s death.
In a separate interview, he also said OFWs will no longer be
required to quarantine for 14 days once they test negative for the coronavirus.
Bello said in a radio interview that the government’s
Inter-Agency Task Force against Covid-19 does not want a repeat of the previous
incident in which more than 40,000 OFWs spent nearly two months in quarantine
facilities before they were transported home to their provinces.
He said all returning OFWs will be given swab tests on their
arrival at the airport, and will have to wait only between two and five days
for the results. If they test negative, they will be sent home, but local
government heads could still decide to put them under home quarantine.
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| A group of seafarers was flown to Clark Airport earlier this week after being stranded at seas for months |
Meanwhile, local reports in Barbados say the Harmony of the
Seas with around 2,000 crew members docked in the country’s Bridgetown Port
only last May 27.
However, many of the crew members had been on other cruise
ships for up to 90 days earlier, including the Vision of the Seas, Majesty of
the Seas, and Rhapsody of the Seas. Jocson was previously on the Rhapsody.
Cruise Law News says the Royal Caribbean had listed
over 20 flights from Barbados
to the Philippines
From Locsin’s statement if would seem that most, if not
all, the flights had been canceled earlier because of the government’s attempt
to decongest quarantine facilities.
