DEATH IN UAE. Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac gives updates on the death of Filipino nurse Reyna Jane Ancheta during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City on Oct. 12, 2024. Ancheta, 32, could not be reached by her husband for three days and was later found dead along a highway in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 6. (PNA photo by Robert Alfiler)
MANILA – The investigation into the death of 32-year-old Filipino nurse Reyna Jane Ancheta, who was found dead on a highway in Abu Dhabi after going missing for three days, is still ongoing, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Saturday.
In a news forum in Quezon City, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the Philippine government will sponsor the flight of her husband, Kenneth Paul, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) so that he could personally observe the probe until her remains can be repatriated.
She left behind a 12-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. She would have turned 33 on Dec. 11.
“Wala ako munang detalyeng ilalahad kasi (I don't have details as of now as) we are also waiting. I don’t want to preempt the results of the UAE authorities,” he said.
“Iyong kaniyang pagbalik ay nakadepende rin sa imbestigasyon. Hindi natin mamadaliin sa ngayon. Kaya nga ang ating lunas ay dalhin na lang iyong husband doon para mismo niya masaksihan iyong proseso ng pagpapa-uwi at iyong imbestigasyon. So, willing naman tayo doon (The repatriation of her remains depends on the investigation. What we can do at the moment is to bring her husband there so he can witness the investigation and the process of her repatriation),” Cacdac added.
In an earlier GMA News interview, Nueva Vizcaya-based Kenneth Paul said he could not contact her wife since Oct. 6 and was later informed by her agency that she died in a car accident.
Kenneth Paul fears a cover-up as he recalled his wife telling him she was often scared when returning every night to her dormitory.
UAE news outlet Khaleej Times reported that Reyna arrived in August and started her job at Al Raiaa Home Health Care. She used to work in Saudi Arabia.
"She was able to finish her shift from morning until afternoon on Saturday (Oct. 5), but that was our last contact with her," the home care's Human Resources department said. "She was supposed to be on duty on Sunday (Oct. 6) but when we tried calling her, she wasn't picking up. We reached out to her accommodation, friends, but we couldn't get hold of her."
Ronald Gamiao, president of the Filipino Nurses Association in Emirates, told Khaleej Times that they are "saddened by the loss of our fellow nurse in Abu Dhabi."
"Our deepest condolences to her family. We were able to reach out to our MWO (Migrant Workers Office) in Abu Dhabi and they are handling this matter. Her company had coordinated also with our government,” Gamiao said. (PNA)
