An overseas Filipina worker (OFW) was reported missing in Kuwait, a lawmaker revealed on Sunday, August 19.
In a statement, ACTS-OFW Party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III said that OFW Ronalyn Yonting Lagawan “has been missing for 18 months now” adding that the worker’s family in the Philippines reported that they have lost contact with her ever since she ran away from her employer in February 2017.
Bertiz said that the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has launched a campaign to locate the OFW calling for other Filipinos in the Gulf state who may have information about her whereabouts to speak out.
“We hope that she is okay and that maybe she is just afraid to surface or call her relatives,” a Philippine embassy representative in Kuwait said.
“We appeal to anyone who may have knowledge of her (Lagawan’s) whereabouts to directly communicate with us at the embassy because her family is worried,” the representative added.
In February, the body of OFW Joanna Demafelis whose body was found stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait. Demafelis was said to be missing for a year already when her body was discovered.
The discovery prompted the two countries to draft an agreement that will protect the welfare of the OFWs in Kuwait.
The Philippine government also demanded justice for the slain Filipina which later on translated to a Kuwaiti court sentencing the employers of the OFW, who were identified as the primary suspects to the crime, to death by hanging.
The two countries settled the issues and signed the labor deal on May 11.
Under the labor deal, domestic helpers need to be provided with proper clothing, food, and accommodation. They should also be allowed to keep their cellphones so they could call for help in cases of emergency. Aside from these, they must be allowed to have a minimum of 8 hours of sleep and ample food.
Aside from these, OFWs will likewise be asked to have their passports deposited at the Philippine Embassy.
The Kuwaiti government has agreed to create a special unit within their police force which the Embassy can coordinate with in times of emergency calls from OFWs.
NOTE: Photo featured in the photo was taken from KATV
