DFA, DMW: Domestics deployment to resume if Kuwait protects OFW rights, allows shelters

The Philippines will lift its suspension on the deployment of household service workers to Kuwait on one condition: that the host country can guarantee the protection of workers' there, including allowing shelters run by the Philippine government for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), authorities said Monday.

Undersecretary Eduardo Vega of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Undersecretary Hans Cacdac of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) made the response when quizzed by lawmakers on the non-negotiables in the ongoing talks with Kuwait over the Arab nation's ban on new Filipino workers.

Kuwait’s ban on the entry of new Filipino workers came three months after the Philippines suspended its deployment of household service workers to Kuwait due to cases of abuse, including the death of OFW Jullebee Ranara, a household service worker whose body was found burned in the middle of a desert in Kuwait. She was reported to have been raped and impregnated by her employer's 17-year-old son.

“The non-negotiables are: our shelter [for distressed OFWs] have to [remain] there, as it is in the law passed by Congress. We will look at how we can reach a compromise on that. There also has to be justice for Jullebee Ranara, and improvement on the conditions of our workers,” de Vega told lawmakers.

De Vega said there were at least 466 distressed OFWs staying at the shelter in Kuwait.

“We will not compromise the protection of our workers,” de Vega added.

Cacdac backed de Vega, saying that the deployment of household service workers to Kuwait was precisely deferred to pave the way for reforms.

“Wala na dapat masaktan, mahalay, mabugbog o mamatay na Pilipino sa kamay ng kanilang employer. There should be provision to prevent abuses and address abuses if it happens, such as access to justice and reforms on employment contracts,” Cacdac said.

(No OFW should be hurt, raped, physically assaulted, or killed at the hands of their employer.)

“The repatriation [of OFWs] should also be facilitated promptly, and justice in terms of labor and criminal law should also be delivered more swiftly,” Cacdac said.

Asked if the ban on the entry of new Filipino workers by Kuwait was retaliation for the Philippines’ decision to defer the deployment of household service workers to the Arab nation, de Vega described Kuwait’s actions as a "response."

“It could be because we are operating shelters because we have to put it there because it is under the law. That is non-negotiable. It could be also because of a news article there stating that deployment should run through POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration)... maybe they thought we are imposing new conditions but we are not. These have to be clarified,” de Vega said.

“I won’t call it a retaliation because I don’t want to use provocative language. I would call it a response... a message to lift the ban as soon as possible. If you don’t want to send household workers, then don’t send anyone. We will use diplomacy [to resolve this], but not at the expense of our national pride, as well as honor and safety of our workers,” de Vega said.

Having said that, de Vega appealed for more time in resolving the issue and announced that a Philippine delegation was set to go to Kuwait to work things out.

“We will be diplomatic. Everything has a solution. We are not going to resolve this in one week. What if after two months, they dismiss the case on the perpetrators of Ranara’s death and we already lifted the suspension?” de Vega said.

“It will take some time to ensure better protection and justice for our people. We are trying to be optimistic, to end this long-standing issue,” de Vega added.

Meanwhile, a Monday 24 Oras report said that the Philippine delegation would be made up of DFA, DMW, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration officials.

De Vega said that this was a planned negotiation, and delegates were not meeting with Kuwaiti officials to plead for the lifting on the ban on new Filipino workers.

"Sa palagay natin wala naman tayong nilabag na sa labor agreement kasi yun ang umaabot sa balita doon sa Kuwait," said the DFA official.

(I don't think we violated any labor agreements, because we heard that that was what Kuwait was being told.)

As for the OFW shelters, they would explain that these were for the protection of workers who flee from abusive employers. They were not there to encourage OFWs to leave their jobs.

De Vega also said that he did not think the shelters were the reason why Kuwait had suspended the entry of new OFWs.

"Hindi nila nilagay sa papel, wala pong wirtten demand na eto po ang dahilan, this is why we are suspending," said the Filipino diplomat. — DVM, GMA Integrated News