Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose work and flight schedules were affected by the deployment ban to Kuwait can immediately fly to the Gulf state once labor guidelines are released, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) announced.
OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the guidelines, which will be based on the labor deal signed by the Philippine and Kuwaiti government, will be released by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
“Ayon sa nilagdaan ni [Labor] Secretary [Silvestre] Bello, effective immediately ang kanyang nilagdaan. Mayroon pang guidelines na ii-isyu ang POEA patungkol dito,” Cacdac told GMA.
“Antabayanan na lang po natin dahil effective immediately iyong order pero may guidelines. And I think na hindi na magtatagal at magkakaroon na ng guidelines para makaalis na ‘yung ating mga kababayan,” he added.
Cacdac assured all OFWs that will be deployed to Kuwait will be documented.
“Hindi naman ganoon kalaking bansa ang Kuwait. Mas madaling ma-control yung kanilang border at mahigpit din kontra sa human trafficking yung Kuwaiti immigration border control,” he said.
Deployment of some 3,000 OFWs were delayed when President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a deployment ban to Kuwait following the death of Joanna Demafelis whose body was discovered stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in the Gulf state.
The ban was lifted earlier this week when the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments signed the labor deal that would protect OFWs in the Gulf state.
