- RIYADH: One of the estimated 1,200 Filipinos awaiting deportation at a hold facility at the Haj Terminal of the Jeddah Islamic Port died Monday night due to kidney failure, according to Welfare Officer Benny I.
- Reyes of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.
The dead man was identified as Jameel Macasanton, 48, from Marawi City.
“I spoke on Tuesday morning to Macasanton’s nephew, Arafat Kamal, and he confirmed that his uncle had died. He was with the embassy staff when Macasanton was rushed to the King Abdulaziz Hospital,” John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, told Arab News.
Macasanton did not receive dialysis in time to save him. His daughter, who lives in Jeddah, has been informed, as has the family back home.
Macasanton had been undocumented since 2008 after running away from his employer due to labor malpractices. He sought the help of the consulate so that he could be repatriated. Since then, he had survived by working from one job to another.
Many foreign workers end up in the labor black market because their employers fail to pay them or employers report them as runaway workers to avoid paying them.