MANILA :  The Department of Migrant Workers is investigating and determining any possible legal liability over the mistake made in the repatriation of overseas Filipino worker Jenny Alvarado’s remains from Kuwait.

Hans Leo Cacdac, Secretary of Migrant Workers, apologized to the Alvarado Family for the incident.

“I’m just giving our lawyers time to study.” Rest assured that I have also promised the family we will pursue any legal claim if our lawyer finds liability by anyone involved in this mistake,” he said during an ambush in Makati on Tuesday.

Cacdac said, “But as it stands, I accept full responsibility because I asked for Jenny’s immediate return. This may have led to the mistake.”

RELATED STORY Rizal Family Left Devastated After Receiving Wrong OFW Remains

According to initial reports from the Philippine embassy in Kuwait, Alvarado died on Jan. 2, after inhaling smoke coming from a heating unit in their workplace.

When the remains arrived at the family’s home on Jan. 10, they discovered that it wasn’t Jenny.

“Ang nangyari ay nagbigay ako ng direktiba na bilisan ang kanyang pagpapauwi. Ngayon, yung service provider natin doon, yung private shipping service provider ay nagsagawa ng pag-repatriate ng remains. Ang tinukoy na labi ay naiba pero nasa pangalan ni Jenny, so may pagkakamali (What happened was that I gave a directive to speed up her repatriation. Now, our service provider, the private shipping company, has repatriated the remains. The cadaver specified is different, but in Jenny’s case. So there is a mistake),”, the DMW chief said.

Cacdac assured her family that DMW would obtain the police and autopsy report to be able to decide whether to pursue claims regarding the victim’s death.

He said that Jenny’s remains would arrive on Thursday. 

Source Philippine News Agency