Elayan Kris Allafi and his wife.

ABDUL HANNAN TAGO

RIYADH: A Saudi man residing in the capital has contacted the Filipino who has been searching for his father for 15 years and told him that he was ready for a DNA test.

An excited Elayan Kris Allafi, the 31-year-old Filipino, expressed thanks to Arab News via an online conversation for publishing his story in its Jan. 2 edition. He said the Saudi man contacted him early on Saturday morning and expressed his willingness to undergo a DNA test for final confirmation and completion of legal procedures.

“Thanks to Arab News, this is for the first time in my life I got to hear from him,” Allafi said.

“Thank you for your help. They are now talking to each other on the phone,” Allafi’s wife told Arab News while he engaged in a phone conversation with the Saudi man calling from Riyadh. “They are now discussing how to undergo the DNA test” she said,

Allafi provided some documents, photos and letters to Arab News, dated 1984 from Riyadh, bearing the name of the sender and his postal address.

Allafi said: “Thanks to Allah, I am so happy the man is willing to recognize me but wants to be sure that everything goes through the legal process. He expressed his willingness to undergo DNA test.”

The Saudi man also had a conversation with this reporter on Saturday and expressed his willingness to end the suffering of Allafi.

According to Allafi, his mother met the Saudi man in Manila in 1983-84 through a Filipino friend who was a business partner.

“I retained my name in my passport in the hope to see him one day, although it is something unfamiliar in the Filipino community to have such a name. However, everybody knows me there as “Arabia son”.

Allafi, who is now already married, said that when he was 17-18 years old, he had started the search for his father. He was raised in the Christian community in Isabella and has been working in in Malaysia since 2005.

“I am confident about meeting my father, so that I can visit the Two Holy Mosques with my wife to perform Umrah” he told said from Malaysia.

He is now pursuing Islamic studies in Malaysia to learn more about his original religion, and uses the Arabic name in his Facebook account.

“Once he recognizes me, I will perform Haj immediately,” he said.

Source: ArabNews