Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday confirmed the death of a third Filipino — a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental — as a result of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“I regret to inform you that yes, it is confirmed. There is a third Filipino casualty,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in a Palace briefing.
“Now we join the nation in extending our deepest sympathies to the relatives of the latest casualty who was also a caregiver,” he added.
She was Loreta “Lorie” Alacre, a caregiver. Her family has given permission to name her.
In a Facebook post on Oct. 8 written in Hebrew, Alacre’s employer Noam Solomon said the Filipino worker — who was her “devoted” caregiver for the last six years — was last seen early Saturday morning between the cities of Netivot and Ashkelon in the southern district of Israel. Hamas launched its attack at the time.
She learned that Alacre was with a man later located in a hospital in Ashkelon after he was shot in the back, but no report was given to the Israeli employer on the whereabouts of the Filipino woman.
During the briefing, De Vega said the family is already aware of the death and the Philippine Embassy in Israel is in talks with the woman’s siblings residing in Kuwait for the repatriation of her remains.
Alacre’s family said they received the tragic news from the embassy through a phone call after waiting for six days for updates on whether or not she was safe. They last spoke to the OFW on Oct. 6, a day before Hamas attacked Israel.
The family said she was supposed to return home in December for her 50th birthday celebration.
\”Masakit po kasi pumunta po siya diyan para mag trabaho pero ganito ang nangyari [It hurts because she went to Israel to work, but this happened],\” her sister Ana Alacre told CNN Philippines.
Ana said Lorie tirelessly helped their family in the last several years, even supporting the education of her siblings’ children.
With her gone, Lorie’s nephew said some of his cousins may be forced to stop schooling.
The embassy earlier announced two Filipinos were killed in the ongoing war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
The other two confirmed deaths were caregiver Paul Vincent Castelvi, 42, from Pampanga, and a 33-year-old female from Pangasinan working in Israel for six years.
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Meanwhile, three Filipinos are still considered missing.
“It doesn’t mean that there’s no hope because as we said before there were a lot more missing a week ago. And then, paunti nang paunti (it gets fewer). So possibly, these three will still show up,” De Vega said.
The DFA said the President’s priority now is repatriation but no one can get in and out of Gaza due to a blockade, making repatriation “not yet possible as of this time.”
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In Gaza, De Vega said 92 out of 137 Filipinos in Gaza are asking to be repatriated. He added that the first batch of Filipinos are being arranged to fly home by Oct. 16.
