Drowning Victims Repatriated To Manila
By Tony Alabastro

Bandar Seri Begawan - The remains of two Filipino drowning victims in Berakas will be repatriated to Manila via Royal Brunei Airlines flight BI 683 this afternoon (Thursday), the Philippine Embassy said yesterday.

Arrangements to send the bodies of Ma. Stella P. Lopez, 22, of Caloocan City, and Marelle Raya, 20, of Balanga City, Bataan, to the Philippines were facilitated by the Philippine government through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, and the Philippine Embassy in Brunei Darussalam.

Their bodies laid in state last night at the Our Lady for the Assumption Church on Jalan Kumbang Pasang in the capital. Prayers were offered and Philippine Embassy personnel, friends and relatives of the deceased and Filipino community members attended an overnight vigil.

A third Filipina who survived the drowning incident, Violeta Adote, was declared out of danger. She will be discharged "in a few days" from the RIPAS Hospital, it was learned. She was transferred to a hospital ward yesterday from the Intensive Care Unit, where she was taken last Sunday afternoon. She works in a coffee shop in Telanai.

Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Virginia H Benavidez and consular officers Ed Matibag and Attorney Neil Brillantes have been visiting Adote and monitoring her condition since Sunday.

Ambassador Benavidez said the relatives of the victims expressed their gratefulness to the Philippine government for immediately repatriating the remains and for shouldering the repatriation costs.

The Philippine Embassy said it extends its appreciation to the Royal Brunei Police Force, the Search and Rescue Unit of the Fire and Rescue Department, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and all those who helped in recovering the bodies of the two Filipino victims.

The victims were among a group of 11 persons who went to the Berakas Forest Reserve Beach on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the birthday of one of their relatives, it was learned.

Three persons, including the two Filipino women who were visiting Brunei, drowned, while another Filipina was rescued when the sea suddenly turned rough while they were swimming on Sunday afternoon at the Berakas beach. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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