The body of Mary Grace Viray Santos, a 34-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) brutally raped and murdered in Amman, Jordan, was brought back to her hometown in Macabebe, Pampanga this Saturday.
Arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 aboard an Emirates Airways Boeing 777-300ER, the body was immediately transported to Macabebe. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Migrant Workers worked jointly to facilitate this repatriation, the provincial government of Pampanga announced.
Relatives of Santos expressed their heart-wrenching grief on social media. One post lamented, “You are finally home, but you are no longer alive.” Another shared the pain the family, especially Santos’ mother, is enduring.
The family is still in the process of scheduling Santos’ burial.
The Jordanian police have detained a 16-year-old Egyptian suspect in connection to the crime. Maria Lisa Santos, Mary Grace’s mother, expressed deep anguish during an interview on Oct. 18, stating that the death penalty seemed an inadequate punishment for the individual responsible for her daughter’s death. According to sources in Jordan, if convicted, the 16-year-old perpetrator could face execution upon turning 18.
The tragic incident has resonated deeply with the OFW community in the Middle East, especially those who personally knew Santos, leading to widespread calls for justice on social media.
Contrary to official information, which is scarce, social media posts suggest Mary Grace was sent to clean a relative’s house of her Jordanian employer on Oct. 10 and subsequently went missing. She was later found deceased inside a gas tank cabinet in that house on Oct. 12.