FDH dies in Tai Po after she was hospitalized for lupus

A 35-year-old Filipino domestic worker died in Tai Po yesterday (February 18) after she was hospitalized for lupus, consulate officials said.

One official, who asked not to be identified, said Maristel P. Pepito, who was from Baybay, Leyte, died at the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po.

“Her husband and sibling were supposed to come over from the Philippines to visit her but she passed away,” the official said.

She said the consulate was still trying to obtain Pepito’s death certificate to determine the exact cause of death of the worker.

Pepito was first hospitalized in January and doctors determined that she had lupus. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) officers visited her before she was discharged on February 5.

But on February 16, she was again brought to the hospital after her conditioned worsened. An official said she had pulmonary hemorrhage and her lupus had led to acute pneumonia.

“She was brought to the ICU (intensive care unit) and OWWA officers visited her on February 17 but she died the following day,” the official said.

Pepito was married and reportedly had three children back in the Philippines.

The official said that consulate was coordinating with the worker’s family, employer, and employment agency for the repatriation of her remains back to the Philippines.