LORETA ALACRE (Facebook photo)
By Dominique Gabriel G. BañagaThe Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed the death of the missing Negrense overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Israel, following the attack at a music festival by the Palestinian-militant group Hamas recently.
Loreta Alacre, who works as a caregiver in Israel, is the third Filipino fatality in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Loreta’s sister Anabella affirmed yesterday morning that her other sister, who is also working as an OFW in Kuwait, received a call from the Philippine Embassy in Israel, informing her that Loreta had passed away.
Anabella said Loreta succumbed to wounds on Thursday, October 12, as the sibling positively identified the remains.
They have yet to receive information about what caused Loreta’s death.
Anabella said she also received a call from Migrant Workers Undersecretary Hans Cacdac, assuring the family to repatriate Loreta’s remains back to her home in Cadiz City’s Barangay Cadiz Viejo.
Anabella is also planning to ask for additional support from the provincial government in getting the remains back home.
The provincial government had already pledged support to the Alacre family.
Meanwhile, Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., in a statement, said that the local government unit mourns Loreta’s passing.
Escalante said the locality is willing to assist the Alacre family in their moment of grief.
They will also coordinate with the provincial government for the “oneness of our efforts in helping the bereaved family,” especially for the repatriation of the remains.
The 49-year-old Negrense OFW, who had been working for 15 years in Israel, attended the ill-fated Tribe of Nova Music Festival in Kibbutz Reim town in southern Israel.
Kibbutz Reim is six kilometers away from the Hamas-held Gaza Strip.
At least 260 people were killed while an undetermined number of attendees were allegedly kidnapped by the militants and were taken to the Gaza Strip.
It was initially believed that Loreta was among those allegedly abducted by Hamas militants, as information surfaced that she and her boyfriend were ambushed in their car.
Loreta’s partner was reported to have been shot in the back by the militants, but was later rescued by Israeli forces and rushed to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon City.
More than 30,000 Filipinos are living and working in Israel, and 137 in the Gaza Strip.
The DFA placed Israel under Alert Level 3, restricting the deployment of OFWs into the Middle East country.
Israel is already gearing up for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to eliminate the Hamas militants, and to rescue the hundreds of hostages during the recent attacks./DGB, WDJ