RIYADH, 10 March 2006 — Doctors at the King Fahd National Guard Hospital have completed an operation on the right eye of one of the Filipino workers who were injured in the Feb. 28 checkpoint shooting in Riyadh, the Philippine Embassy said yesterday.
An embassy press statement quoted Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla as saying he learned of the positive development during a visit early this week at the hospital, where Filipino workers Rodel Canlas Miranda and Jimmy Mayo Factor are still confined.
“At the time of the ambassador’s visit, Mr. Miranda just completed an operation in his right eye which sustained injury from splinters during the shooting incident,” the embassy statement said.
Miranda and Factor were with in pick-up with four other fellow workers of Bader Al Soubo Construction Co. when they were fired upon by security forces, who reportedly mistook them for terrorists.
Filipinos Abel Monterela and Felix Llorando and their Indian driver were killed in the incident. A third Filipino survivor, Salvador Bibon, was discharged from the hospital last week after being treated with minor wounds.
Quoting hospital officials, the embassy said Miranda and Factor were in stable condition. “Hospital officials led by Dr. Mohrij assured the ambassador that the hospital will do its best in looking after the medical needs of the two OFWs to ensure their earliest recovery,” the embassy said.
Ambassador Guinomla, in turn, assured the two OFWs that the Embassy “will exert its best efforts in looking after their welfare and to continue to visit them regularly.”