Labor Attaché David Des T. Dicang, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office - Eastern Region Operations (POLO-ERO), identified the woman as Romilyn Eroy-Ibanez, 22, from the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato. She arrived in the Kingdom on May 31, 2010.
Dicang said a police investigation report is expected to be ready by Saturday. If warranted, Philippine authorities will also push for the filing of the necessary criminal charges against the culprit or culprits, he said.
"We have been following up daily with the police station the status of the investigation of the case. We thank the officials for their cooperation," Dicang told Arab News by phone.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) main office in Manila, the Embassy said an initial investigation showed that Ibañez had knife wounds in her neck, abdomen and wrist as well as acid burns in her mouth area, arms and legs.
"Reportedly, an almost empty container of sulfuric acid was taken from the scene," the report said.
Ibañez was taken by the Red Crescent to the King Fahd Hospital in Alkhobar after she was found in the kitchen of her employer's residence, said the report by Vice Consul Paul Saret, third secretary of the Philippine Embassy.
According to the DFA, it has asked the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to suspend the license of the Philippine agency, PRA Solidworks Manpower Resources & Promotion, which recruited Ibañez.
An investigation by the POLO-ERO found that Ibañez was sent by the agency "supposedly as a nursing aide, only to find herself working as a household worker."
The DFA-Office of the Undersecretary of Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) is also coordinating with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for the repatriation of the victim's remains.
