JEDDAH, 28 April 2005 — Rafael T. David, a civil and mechanical engineer whose tireless efforts in helping distressed compatriots have earned him thousands of friends in the Kingdom, has died at the age of 58.
Ka Raffy, as he is known to many, died on Monday, his lawyer-son Rainier M. David said in an e-mail to friends of his father.
He will be buried at the Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches, Quezon City, on April 30.
The younger David did not mention the cause of his father’s death but Arab News learned that Ka Raffy had been ill for some time.
Ka Raffy returned to the Philippines in November, last year, after a long stint as project manager of a desalination plant in Yanbu.
As head of the Filipino Community in Yanbu, of Filcoyan, he had established a name for helping or rescuing countless Filipino workers in distress.
“It’s just a matter of knowing the details of a case, preparing the necessary paper work, bringing it to the attention of proper officials, and patiently following it up,” he once told Arab News when asked his secret of getting things done.
“Manong Raffy’s steeled will to oppose oppression and injustices among the sea of migrant Filipinos wherever they are have been manifested in his two (2) decades of living his life in Saudi Arabia,” said Rashid Fabricante,” head of the Pusong Mamon Task Force — Saudi Arabia which had been in the forefront of helping distressed OFWS.
“As a co-action case officer in our advocacy like the PMTF and Filcoyan — his steadfastness and determination, binding faith in human fellowship and sterling dreams to finally free the OFWs from their bondage has left us with “fine footprints in the sand,” Fabricante added.