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Employer of deceased houseworker seeks RP help on insurance benefits
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Posted on Feb 20 2009
A local employer has appealed to the Philippine Consulate General to help the family of a houseworker who was among hundreds of people killed after a ferry capsized in the Philippines last year.
Betty Terlaje, budget and fiscal officer of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., is asking Philippine Consul General Wilfredo Maximo to look into the insurance claim of the family of her former houseworker, Editha Ybanez.
“Her family is not earning anymore because Edith’s no longer here,” Terlaje told Saipan Tribune. “Although Edith’s no longer here and is no longer serving the CNMI, she contributed to the CNMI in many ways.”
Terlaje said Ybanez’s family is entitled to receive insurance coverage from the Philippine government in the amount of P200,000 (about $4,167) plus P20,000 (about $417) in burial benefits.
She said her houseworker was buried on Oct. 29, 2008, but the insurance funds have apparently not been issued yet, despite all necessary papers being forwarded already.
Ybanez, a long-time houseworker of Terlaje and her family, was among the hundreds of people who drowned after the ferry they were on capsized on June 22, 2008, in the Philippines.
Ybanez had been with Terlaje’s family for 11 years.
Terlaje said the tragedy happened in June 2008, but Ybanez’s body was identified through DNA only in October 2008.
Terlaje said she has been communicating with the family and was told by Ybanez’s sister on Tuesday that they have been following up on the insurance claim almost daily but have not received anything yet.
“That should be a concern for all nonresident workers who paid their insurance, only to find out that it’s dragging this long,” she said.
“It’s sad because the family has not received any benefits, especially since Editha was pretty much supporting her family in the Philippines,” Telaje added.
Ybanez left Saipan on June 17, 2008, for a vacation in her hometown in Surigao, located in the southern part of the Philippines. She was supposed to come back to Saipan July 18, 2008.
“She was very bonded with my kids. She was more than a babysitter. She was like their mom when I’m away from home,” the CUC official earlier said.
