- GILBERT BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Friday, Oct. 20, the remains of Negrense caregiver Loreta Villarin Alacre, who died during the Hamas attacks in Israel, will arrive in the country on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Lacson, however, said Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-Western Visayas Regional Director Rizza Joy Moldes did not yet give a specific time of the arrival.
Alacre, 49, of Barangay Cadiz Viejo, Cadiz City, was among the four Filipino fatalities confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, during the attacks of Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 in Israel.
The city government is also preparing for the reported plan of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to visit the wake of Alacre, as soon as her remains arrived in the country.
The President has been invited by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to attend the culmination of MassKara Festival in Bacolod City on Oct. 22.
Meanwhile, the seven siblings of Alacre recently received P500,000 financial aid from Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Loreta had been working as a caregiver in Haifa and Tel Aviv for 15 years.
On the province’s assistance to the Alacre family, Lacson said: “We will see where we come in, at least, there will be significant contribution of the provincial government.”
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said on Thursday that the fourth fatality was also a female caregiver in southern Israel. | GB
