OFW Killed in Riyadh Arrives Home

Ronald Jumamoy’s remains arrived in Manila on Thursday last week, months after he was killed in Riyadh on January 27. His body was immediately flown to Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City.

“We have been waiting for months for his remains to arrive so that we can pay our last respect and bestow a decent burial in our hometown,” said Jumamoy’s sister, Anne, in a statement by migrants’ rights group Blas F. Ople Policy Center.

The center said Jumamoy’s family is asking the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to represent them in pursuing justice in Saudi court for his murder, GMA News reported.

“We have long suffered in pain and now, we hope that justice shall be served according to the laws and practices in Saudi Arabia so that we can pick up the bits and pieces of our lives that have been shattered by his death,” Anne said.

Under the Shariah law, there are two aspects of a murder case: the public action where the punishment is meted for offense against the law or religion, while the private rights of actions is for compensation for the victim or the victim’s family.

What the family needs right now, Anne said, is to secure a special power of attorney for the Philippine embassy to proceed with private rights of action.

Jumamoy is a 26-year-old native of Montevista, Compostella Valley and had worked as a cashier in a convenience store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On January 27, he died after he hit his head on the pavement during a scuffle with a Syrian national who he confronted for allegedly taking an item from the convenience store without paying.

Jumamoy was in coma for days until he died on February 12.

(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)