RP Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya

The Philippine embassy issued a stern warning against Filipinos acting as “middlemen” in the rampant sale of human organs from comatose overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait.

“Hindi naman yata tama yong comatose ang isang tao pagkatapos ibebenta na yung kanyang vital organs,” said Endaya.

The ambassador added that the embassy has recorded five cases of organ donation.

Endaya explained that before an organ donation is made, the patient’s family needs to secure a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila and the embassy in Kuwait.

The middleman, Endaya said, often gets a big chunk of the amount from the sale of the vital organ. It was learned that harvesting a vital organ from a comatose patient could fetch around 20,000 Kuwaiti Dinars.

“Technically, parang nagkakaroon ng bentahan ng human organs. Talamak ang kasong ito sa India. But, I think this should not take place among Filipino workers here in Kuwait,” Endaya said.

Furthermore, Endaya said harvested human organs are sometimes transported to nearby countries like Saudi Arabia where a recipient is waiting.

The embassy is coordinating with the Kuwait Ministry of Health to regulate organ donation of OFWs. Reports from Maxxy Santiago, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau, Kuwait and TV Patrol World