OFW who wakes up from coma repatriated from Jeddah

A Filipino migrant worker who figured in a car accident last year and who has awakened from an eight-month-long coma was repatriated yesterday, June 22 (5:45 p.m.) from Saudi Arabia via Saudia Airlines flight SV 0860.

Ruben "Jon-Jon" de Leon, 25, was hit by a car driven by a 16-year-old Saudi national in September 2008 and got confined in Sulaiman Al-Faquih Hospital in Jeddah where he lapsed into a coma.

Migrante International, which has been assisting the migrant worker, reported last month that he woke up from coma and started to recognize acquaintances.

At the airport, De Leon was fetched by his parents Ruben Sr. and Marissa, Migrante, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Office of Sen. Manny Villar, who brought him to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila for immediate medical attention.

"He must be accorded the necessary medical coverage which is due his case," the Nacionalista Party president said.

De Leon had worked as a helper for a Saudi employer since 2006. He was re-hired after completing his two-year employment contract in July 2008.

Harsh conditions faced by OFWs has prompted Villar to actively press for the application of the "no-fault insurance system" for OFWs, a form of indemnity plan in which anyone injured in an accident or misfortune receives direct payment from the company that has insured them, eliminating the need for victims to establish another's liability or fault through a civil case.

Villar has filed Senate Bill 3040 or the "Overseas Contract Workers Insurance Act" which seeks compulsory insurance for all OFWs in addition to benefits being provided by OWWA.