PH to stop sending workers to Kuwait
Credit to Author: Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino, TMT| Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:18:45 +0000
The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will declare a partial ban on the deployment of household workers to Kuwait, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said.
Bello said the partial deployment ban would not cover returning workers, skilled workers and professionals.
He said the partial ban was recommended by Labor Attache Nasser Mustafa as Kuwaiti authorities are investigating the killing of Jeanelyn Villavende.
Based on preliminary reports submitted by Mustafa of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait, Villevende was beaten to death. She was already dead when brought to a hospital. Attending nurses reported that she was “black and blue.”
Villavende’s family last talked to her in October. On December 13, the family again called Jeanelyn but her female employer said she was busy.
The exact date of Villavende’s death has yet to be determined.
Her employer has been detained in Kuwait.
“This should serve as a clear message to Kuwaiti authorities. The partial ban may ripen into total deployment ban if justice for Jeanelyn Villavende is not met,” Bello said.
“We will also ask Villavende’s recruitment agency to explain their inaction. As early as September, she already complained about maltreatment and underpayment of salary. She also repeatedly requested the agency for repatriation, but they did not do anything,” he added.
Malacañang on Wednesday expressed outrage over Villavende’s death, saying it was “a clear disregard” of the agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait.
“The Palace expresses its outrage over the death of Filipino worker, Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende, allegedly in the hands of her female employer who is now in the custody of Kuwaiti authorities,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
“We consider Jeanelyn’s tragic death a clear disregard of the agreement signed by both our country and Kuwait in 2018 which seeks to uphold and promote the protection of the rights and welfare of our workers in Kuwait,” he added.
At the House of Representatives, Rep. Enrico Pineda sought an investigation of the possible violation of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Philippines and Kuwait.
Pineda said the MoA requires both countries to uphold ethical recruitment policies, systems, and procedures for the recruitment and employment of domestic workers subject to their laws and regulations. It also requires employers to provide food, housing and clothing to their workers; and for the countries to take legal action against erring employers.
“As chairman of the Committee on Labor and Employment and likewise the senior vice chairman of the Overseas Workers Affairs Committee, I am pushing for our government to impose a deployment ban to Kuwait until we are satisfied with their government’s actions with respect to the death of Jeanelyn Villavende; until justice is served,” Pineda said.
“If the Kuwaiti Government is actually concerned about our workers, it should ensure that they are well protected. Because we will not allow our vulnerable Filipinos to be deployed to work in foreign lands without the assurance that the foreign state will give them the protection they need. I call upon all our government agencies to shed light on the matter so that Congress may act upon these issues and consider necessary legislation and policy direction,” he added.
ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap said Villavende’s death was “a blatant disregard not only to the agreement between Kuwait and Philippines on OFW (overseas Filipino workers) welfare but to human dignity as a whole.”
“Dapat maparusahan ang gumawa nito sa ating kababayan at gumulong ang hustisya sa kasong ito (The perpetrators must be punished and justice must be served),” Yap said.
With DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ