SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- At least four of the 10 Filipinos killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan last July 19 are not entitled to any benefits or aid from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), a ranking official of the government agency said.

OWWA Central Luzon regional chief Winnie Palma said that Noel Visda, Mario Najero, Leopoldo Jimenez Jr., and Mark Joseph Mariano, all residents of Pampanga, would not receive funeral benefits from the government agency because “they have irregular overseas employment records.”

Palma said the four victims seem to have left the country without any legal documents and that they may be victims of illegal recruitment.

The OWWA chief said the victims were not allowed to work in Afghanistan because of the danger brought about by the sustained war between the Taliban terrorist group and the United States and the United Kingdom armed forces.

“The government has banned working in Afghanistan and other war-torn countries and those who wish to work in these countries cannot apply for overseas employment permits,” Palma said. Based on a record from OWWA, the victims were deployed to work in the Middle East in 2004, but apparently slipped into Afghanistan where they worked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Record shows that they had already returned to the Philippines after serving in some companies in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iraq, but they left again as tourists bound for Dubai in UAE in 2004.

Other Filipino workers who died in the helicopter crash include Celso Caralde (Misamis Oriental), Ely Cariño (Camarines Sur), Ernesto De Vega (Cavite), Manolito Hornilla (Batangas), Rene Taboclaon (Cagayan de Oro City), and Recardo Vallejos (Surigao del Sur). (Mark Anthony N. Manuel)