The Last Promise: A Determined OFW’s Tragic End

“I will send you money in June.” These were the final, hopeful words Maria Normita Dalima—a determined Filipino Overseas Worker (OFW)—spoke to her husband, Salvio Dalima, a Philippine National Police officer, on May 23, 2016.

Normita was an independent, resilient woman who, alongside Salvio, had built a comfortable life through entrepreneurship in Taguig City, running various businesses from an auto parts shop to a money lending operation.

Their years of labor had established a solid foundation for their two children and allowed them to purchase a new vehicle, signaling their steady ascent toward financial security and the fulfillment of their dreams.

However, their prosperity was brutally interrupted by a series of devastating financial blows: the theft of their new car, the discovery of embezzlement by their employees, and the final, crushing loss of PHP210,000 in a fraudulent land deal.

These setbacks left the couple bankrupt, forcing them to sell their remaining assets, which still proved insufficient to cover their debts.

It was this profound crisis that propelled Normita to seek opportunity abroad.

Though Salvio suggested the comparative safety of the Vatican City, Normita preferred Dubai, where she had relatives, believing a temporary separation was a worthy price for her family’s long-term financial recovery.

Arriving in Dubai in December 2015 on a tourist visa, Normita temporarily stayed with her nephew, Glen, while diligently searching for work.

She eventually secured a position as a domestic helper in Abu Dhabi. Despite not being accustomed to servitude, Normita bravely set aside her pride, driven by the desire to secure a stable life and good education for her children.

The couple’s ultimate plan was retirement in Australia, where they dreamed of visiting their children in college using their hard-earned savings.

For several months, Normita was consistent, faithfully sending remittances to Salvio to cover their children’s high school expenses.

Beyond her role as a dedicated wife and mother, Normita was known as a “super ate” (big sister), a pillar of financial and emotional support for her siblings.

The last conversation with Salvio, just days before May 25, 2016, confirmed her June remittance—timed perfectly for the start of the school year back home.

However, June came and went with no money and, more alarmingly, no contact from Normita.

A frantic Salvio reached out to her nephew Glen on May 25 and learned the chilling news: the 46-year-old had reportedly run away from her employer.

For three agonizing months, Normita’s family remained in the dark about her situation.

Then, on the night of September 21, 2016—nearly four months after her last contact—a terrifying report reached her family in Manila.

The news revealed that Normita’s lifeless body had been discovered in Al Warqa, Dubai, as early as May 25 on University Road.

Due to a media blackout concerning the case details in Dubai, the information was heavily delayed, shocking everyone upon its sudden release.

The updates included a photograph of the victim and, beside it, the suspect identified by authorities: Glen, Normita’s own nephew.

Salvio, a police officer trained in forensic observation, reluctantly came to accept the integrity of the Dubai investigation, though his initial instinct was disbelief.

He was ultimately convinced that Glen was the perpetrator who had caused the irreplaceable loss of his beloved Normita.

Yet, a deep division emerged within the extended family, with approximately 40% of their relatives, including Normita’s brother-in-law, Ref Makalang, utterly rejecting the official narrative.

Ref took to social media, launching a desperate campaign to clear Glen’s name, accusing Dubai Police of fabricating evidence to achieve a rapid, convenient closure to the case.

He passionately argued that a simple, non-violent man like Glen, whom he had never seen raise a hand or a voice, could not possibly have committed such a brutal act against his own aunt.

Glen’s background painted a picture of struggle: he had been a humble street vendor in Cavite, selling food and fruits, before becoming a tricycle driver to support his growing family.

Following the birth of his only son, Kyle, Glen, like his aunt, sought better opportunities in Dubai.

He worked multiple jobs, including as a waiter and a cook, even preparing packed meals for Filipino workers in hospitals to earn extra income—a dedication Ref emphasized to counter the police’s assertion of a violent nature.

Ref Makalang stressed that the police case rested entirely on a confession that he was “100 percent sure” was coerced.

The police theory hinged on a significant debt: Normita had allegedly loaned Glen 10,000 Dirhams (over PHP150,000) and was relentlessly demanding repayment.

The police theorized that Glen, driven to a breaking point by the demands, brutally caused her de@th.

However, family members of the suspect countered this theory, pointing out that Normita had only been working as a house helper for five months; it was highly improbable that she would have access to such a large sum to lend out.

The autopsy report painted a horrifying picture that further complicated the narrative: Normita’s remains, found by a street sweeper covered by a plastic bag, were discovered to be deliberately dismembered.

The clean separation of the he@d and hands indicated that the perpetrator possessed a specialized skill, suggesting the use of a professional butcher’s technique.

The Dubai Police cited Glen’s secondary work as a cook and food preparer to buttress their belief that he possessed the necessary skills to dismember the body cleanly.

Ref Makalang fiercely challenged this assertion, even daring the Dubai police to send investigators to Cavite, assuring them that no one there would corroborate that Glen had ever worked as a butcher.

Ref further raised questions about the employer’s involvement, citing Glen’s claims that Normita had been subjected to mistreatment by her employers.

He also brought forth rumors, unconfirmed by official sources, that the male employer was a high-ranking police general in Dubai, suggesting this connection as a potential reason why authorities failed to investigate the employer’s angle.

The method of Normita’s dismemberment, Ref argued, was not characteristic of Filipino criminal activity but was more commonly associated with criminal acts in the Middle East, further fueling the family’s doubts about Glen’s guilt.

The family’s suspicions were amplified by a circulating video in which Glen himself recounted the harrowing experience of being tortured and threatened into confessing, detailing how he was blindfolded, taken to the desert, physically assaulted, and coerced to take ownership of the crime.

Despite the family’s fervent arguments and the video evidence of coercion, the Dubai Police and even Salvio, Normita’s husband, maintained their belief in Glen’s guilt.

Salvio recalled that Glen had hesitated to report Normita’s disappearance, revealing he was an undocumented worker who feared deportation if he contacted the authorities—a fact that, to Salvio, suggested further concealment.

Moreover, Salvio urged Glen’s family to await the trial if they truly believed in his innocence, suggesting that their fear of due process was telling.

In a signed affidavit dated September 20, 2016, Glen allegedly admitted that a fit of rage over the repeated debt demands caused him to en@d Normita’s life.

He described dismembering her body in his apartment to prevent identification, renting a car to transport and dispose of the remains in Al Warqa, and later discarding the instruments used in a garbage bag.

These chilling details were adamantly rejected by Glen’s relatives, leading Ref to organize a vigil in Cavite, where hundreds marched to the local parish church to pray for the truth to emerge and for the capture of the “real” perpetrator.

Ref even appealed to officials in Malacañang, successfully securing legal assistance for Glen.

Salvio arrived in Dubai on October 31, 2016, prepared to bring his wife’s remains home, but the repatriation was delayed multiple times due to jurisdictional confusion between the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Public Prosecution offices.

Eventually, Normita’s body was repatriated, and Salvio was able to give his beloved wife the funeral she deserved.

As of the last report, Glen continues to maintain his innocence from custody, a solitary figure fighting the overwhelming narrative of a forced confession, while the truth of Maria Normita Dalima’s brutal de@th remains fiercely debated, a painful reminder of the profound cost of ambition and the devastating complexity of justice far from home.