Malacañang announced on Wednesday that president Rodrigo Duterte might be open to fly to Kuwait if authorities in the Gulf State can assure rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be protected.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said among the president’s conditions include:
– Passports of all OFWs should no longer be confiscated by their employers
– The OFW must get at least seven hours of sleep daily
– OFWs should be allowed to cook their own food
– OFWs should have access to one day off
– OFWs should not be subjects of physical abuse
“[Labor] Secretary [Silvestre] Bello said they are moving to include these in the employment contract. Per Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, no final agreement reached yet,” Roque said in a message to reporters.
The announcement was made after Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh’s invitation for Duterte to visit Kuwait to check on the situation of OFWs in the Gulf State.
Roque also clarifed that total deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait is still in place.
On February 6, the body of Joanna Demafelis was discovered stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Autopsy showed the OFW suffered repeated beatings which resulted to a broken rib, trauma, and internal bleeding.
Demafelis’ death prompted the government to impose a deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and Kuwait, which aims to protect the rights of OFWs in the Gulf state, is expected to be signed in April.
