Vice President Leni Robredo said on her weekly radio show that the Kuwaiti government should sign a bilateral agreement with the Philippine government to ensure the protection of Filipino migrant workers there.
“I hope that the President’s visit will be enough pressure for the Kuwaiti government to sign the agreement. The reality is, even if the threat of violence is there, many OFWs still refuse to go home because they think of their employment. We need to protect them,” she said.
Robredo also backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to suspend the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait because of the increasing number of violence and abuse.
“The President made the right call. This is a strong statement against violence,” she said.
On the other hand, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the total deployment ban to Kuwait may push the Gulf state to sign the said bilateral pact.
“Itong ginawa ng ating Pangulo ay isang strong message sa ating mga kaibigan na taga-Kuwait na napapanahon na bigyan naman ng proteksyon ang ating mga manggagawa dun,” Bello said in an interview with GMA on Monday.
Overseas Filipino workers from Kuwait who would repatriate after the deployment ban may also avail of the government’s reintegration program that can help them to get jobs in China, Czech Republic, Germany, and Japan.
Bello also said in the same interview that they are improving the livelihood program in the reintegration package to ensure the benefits of the OFWs.
“Ngayon, mas istrikto na ngayon. Hindi na basta-basta magpresenta ng plano o kaya project proposal ay approved na,” he said.
On Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte asked Filipinos in Kuwait to come home after a body of a Filipina was found inside a freezer in Kuwait City.
There are at least 250,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, 75% of which are domestic workers.
