By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Rojo never regained consciousness after collapsing Saturday night |
A 50-year-old Filipina domestic helper who collapsed in her
employer’s house in Yuen Long on Saturday night passed away Tuesday night in
Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long. Consulate staff said the helper suffered a heart
attack
Mary Ann B. Rojo fainted around 11pm while preparing to go
to bed and was taken to hospital by her male employer, according to one of her
friends in
Welfare Officer Virsie Tamayao of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration confirmed today, Oct 20, the helper’s death.
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She said the employer has contacted OWWA and the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section to report Rojo’s passing and to inquire about the repatriation of her remains to her hometown in Ilocos Sur.
“The employer did not give any info about details of
(Rojo’s) death. Maybe ATN could provide because they spoke with the employer
for the procedure and requirements of repatriation,” the OWWA chief in
An ATN officer said the Filipina died of heart attack. Her employer has been told to contact the helper’s family directly to relay the news of her passing.
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Rojo’s friend and provincemate, Maynalyn Reynante, said their group of Filipina helpers in Fairview Park was to have a party last Sunday in their hangout at the village park.
Reynante, 38, the cook among the group of 22 friends who call themselves Fairview Park Girls, said Rojo ordered cassava cake as her contribution to the party. But on Sunday morning, Rojo was not answering calls from her friends.
Reynante volunteered to bike to the house of the helper’s employers to find out what happened, and was met at door by her employer’s grown-up daughter. She told the helper that Rojo was in a coma at the hospital after collapsing.
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“Please pray for your friend. She had a heart attack,” the employer’s daughter who Rojo took care as a child, reportedly told Reynante.
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| Mary Ann with husband Trinidad and their eldest child |
Reynante said she contacted Rojo’s husband Trinidad, a
professor at the
The employer’s daughter called Reynante on Tuesday night and said Rojo died at 10:56pm. She never regained consciousness.
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Reynante said Rojo, who became her friend since she arrived in Fairview Park six years ago, was a very kind and soft-spoken person.
The younger woman said her friend had been taking maintenance pills for her blood pressure. Just recently Rojo reportedly said her blood pressure was shooting up again, to about 145/100. When she stood up, she felt dizzy.
The deceased had reportedly said she wanted to go home for good as she missed her two children, a girl aged 15 and a boy aged 14. Rojo and her husband ran a furniture store in their hometown of San Vicente, whose income augmented the worker’s remittance.
Tamayao said Rojo’s family receive death and burial benefits amounting to Php120,000, as well as educational assistance for one child and livelihood assistance.
Before Rojo, at least one other Filipino domestic helper died of a suspected heart attack this year.
Teresa dela Cruz, a volunteer in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s “Healthwise” health check program for Filipino workers, collapsed on Jan 9 in her employer’s flat in Hing Keng Estate, Shatin.
Dela Cruz, 51, had no record of any pre-existing ailment.
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