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Remains of Filipino worker to be sent home today
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Posted on Apr 14 2009
The remains of a Filipino worker who died on March 29 after he fell into a coma for a week will be sent home this morning, with his last employer of record—XO Market—shouldering the funeral expenses and airfare.
Rodolfo Pabale’s body will be flown back to the Philippines today.
He was 63, according to his daughter Winnie Pabale, who came to Saipan on April 4 to fetch his father’s remains.
“I am so thankful for those who helped, like Nina Reyes and Rolly Querijero, and everyone else. When I got here, everything was already okay,” Winnie Pabale told Saipan Tribune.
She said the observance of Holy Week delayed the trip home for a few days.
The remains will be brought to San Pedro, Laguna, where Pabale will be laid to rest.
Pabale had been in a coma since the morning of March 21 after he had a stroke while cooking in his apartment in San Antonio. He passed away a week later on March 29 at CHC.
Pabale came to Saipan in 1992 to work as a purchaser for XO Market. After years with the company, his contract expired on Nov. 30, 2006, but was extended for six months. Pabale worked at XO Market until May 2007. After that, he was said to have worked for different companies.
The Department of Labor, according to his daughter, determined that his father’s last employer of record is XO Market, which paid for the funeral and transportation expenses. She said she was told that Labor will be taking care of his father’s hospital expenses.
Winnie Pabale said his father’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration membership expired just a few months before he died. An OWWA life insurance could have provided Pabale’s family money for them to help cope with the loss.
Individuals on Saipan donated money to Pabale’s family. Among the first ones to donate was Martin M. Sakisat, owner of the apartment where Pabale lived before he passed away.
“He’s a good man. I wish him the best in his resting place…In the midst of tough times, we should be hugging one another with affection, regardless of nationality, race and skin color,” Sakisat said.
