CALABANGA, Camarines Sur – A 33-year-old woman has not returned to her family in Camarines Sur after being found unconscious on a footbridge in Pasay City and taken to a hospital but later lost her life.
She was identified as Michelle Silvertino, from Barabbas Burabod in Calabanga town.
According to a Pasay City Police report, it was early June 5 when a concerned citizen found Silvertino struggling to breathe and had a fever. The police report added that the concerned citizen first consulted Barangay 159 but declined to respond.
Silvertino was unconscious when police arrived who took her to the hospital where she later died.
Silvertino was also subjected to a swab test. Her death certificate states that COVID-19 was the cause of his death.
According to Silvertino’s friend, Nathanael Alviso, it had been a long time and she had been suffering from lung disease.
“By 5 a.m. ng Friday, unconscious na siya. Dinala siya sa Pasay City General Hospital and she was pronounced dead on arrival. The suspicion is baka daw COVID pero in my knowledge, alam kong may sakit siya sa baga kaya nga na-pending ‘yung process niya pagpa-abroad,” He said.
Silvertino’s remains were immediately buried in Pasay City cemetery. At her death, Servertino orphaned her four children. Alviso told the story in September 2019 when they helped Silvertino process papers to work in Saudi Arabia as a domestic helper to raise her children.
While her companions were traveling, Silvertino left because she did not pass the medical examination.
“Unfortunately, she had water in her lungs so she was declared not fit to work. So since she needed to provide for her children, she worked as a housemaid in Antipolo, Rizal, ”Alviso explained.
Before the end of May, Silvertino told her boss to come home to Bicol to take care of the children and she was immediately allowed.
On May 31, or a day before Metro Manila was lowered to the general community quarantine, she was escorted to the Cubao terminal on the assumption that Bicol was on her way home. But since there was no regular trip under the general community quarantine, she walked to Pasay with her luggage.
“When we arrived in Pasay, there was no bus to Bicol, so she waited there for five days. Almost five days, ”Alviso said.
Silvertino also received no text from relatives or friends from May 31 to June 5 or while staying at the footbridge in Pasay.
This was until her social media presence saw a picture of her from a media interviewer. This is far from Silvertino’s strong physique because she is thin and obviously tired.
Some government agencies have tried to get her involved in the “Balik Probinsiya program”. She had to undergo rapid testing before returning home and by June 6 she was scheduled to be here.
Silvertino’s 11-year-old eldest daughter wants nothing but her mother’s remains.
