OFW protection pact with Kuwait set – Bello

BOAO, China – The Philippine government is aiming to sign this month a bilateral agreement providing additional protection for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the proposed labor pact has already been finalized and now awaits President Duterte’s approval.

Bello, speaking to reporters here last Tuesday, added that the President might travel to Kuwait to witness the signing of the proposed labor protection pact between the two countries.

“We have finalized the MOU (memorandum of understanding). We just need the go-signal of boss on when it will be signed," Bello, a member of the President’s delegation to China, said in Filipino.

He admitted though that the labor agreement should be signed this month or before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“It should signed before the Ramadan. It should be within April because they (Kuwaiti officials) might be unavailable by May since it’s already Ramadan,” he said.

The government earlier pushed for a labor protection agreement with Kuwait to prevent a repeat of reported abuses committed against Filipino workers.

The President has also ordered a OFW deployment ban to Kuwait after expressing dismay over the discovery of the body of OFW Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer in an apartment unit in the Gulf state.

A Kuwaiti court recently sentenced to death the employers of Demafelis, a development welcomed by the family and the government.

Recently, Malacañang said President Duterte "might" visit Kuwait if his conditions seeking protection of Filipino workers are met.

Among the conditions are prohibiting the confiscation of passports of OFWs by their employers, allowing workers to sleep for seven hours and cook their own food, and prevention of physical abuse.