Press Release No. 108-03
26 March 2003
ADELA’S PARENTS ISSUED PASSPORTS; WILL LEAVE TOMORROW FOR HONG KONG
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople received the parents of the late
Adela Dalingay, a 39-year old victim of atypical pneumonia otherwise known
as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) at his office at the Department
of Foreign Affairs where they would be given travel documents for their trip
tomorrow to Hong Kong.
Adela’s parents, Gregorio Dalingay and Lolita Managan, were fetched from
Abra by OWWA personnel and were accompanied to the DFA by OWWA Administrator
Virgilio Angelo. They were instantly issued new passports by the DFA, free
of charge and briefed by DOH doctors on the mysterious respiratory ailment
that claimed their daughter’s life.
The parents wanted to know if it was possible to bring home the remains
of their daughter in keeping with a Tingian tribal tradition of allowing
the kin of the departed to touch the body of their departed loved one.
A physician from the Department of Health gently informed Adela’s parents
that they would have to follow quarantine laws of Hong Kong.
Mr. Dalingay said in his native dialect that he has no objection to the
cremation scheduled on Friday but would have preferred that Adela’s body
be brought home for a proper burial, if the autopsy findings revealed that
she did not die from SARS.
Secretary Ople called up Consul General Victoria Bataclan and gave instructions
to request Hong Kong authorities to facilitate the release of autopsy findings
as soon as possible. It was determined, however, that funeral companies in
Hong Kong have refused to embalm Adela’s remains for fear of infection by
the SARS virus which can be transmitted upon close contact.
The Consulate General in Hong Kong has prepared a special mass in honor
of Adela Dalingay who worked for ten years in the former crown colony as
domestic helper.
Her parents would be staying in Hong Kong for three to four days under the
care of Consul General Bataclan. Adela’s remains shall be cremated this Friday.
End