Rody to check on OFWs in Kuwait

After stopping the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait due to alleged abuses, President Duterte is expected to visit the Gulf state soon to check on the plight of remaining Filipinos there.

The invitation to visit Kuwait was extended by Kuwaiti Ambassador the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh during a meeting with the President in Malacañang last Wednesday.

“Any day now I will be going to Kuwait. The ambassador was here. I was angry after four Filipinas were... they raped them,” the President said in the Visayan dialect during an assembly of rebel-returnees in the Palace last Wednesday night.

President Duterte earlier ordered the Department of Labor and Employment to suspend the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait following the deaths of several overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Duterte has warned of a pullout of other Filipinos working in Kuwait if another citizen dies due to abuse and exploitation.

He said he would ask China to open its doors to accommodate displaced Filipino workers.

In a Palace news conference Thursday, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Kuwait has assured the President about the protection of the migrant workers, and extended an invitation to visit the Gulf state to see for himself.

“Kuwait wants to assure the President that Filipino nationals are protected in Kuwait and to see for himself,” he said.