PH-Kuwait conflict settled
Both agreed on 4 measures to protect distressed Filipinos
All’s well that ends well. The Philippine government has pledged to respect the sovereignty of Kuwait in a bid to resolve a diplomatic conflict over the rescue of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf State.
President Duterte gave the assurance during his “frank and cordial” meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh in Davao City last Monday as he sought to prevent the conflict from escalating. While President Duterte did
not apologize over the diplomatic row, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, on Tuesday, owned up to the incident and offered his apology.
“It is in this spirit that I apologize to my counterpart and we apologize to the Kuwaiti government, the Kuwaiti people, and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait,” Cayetano said in an ambush interview with reporters in Taguig City.
Following Cayetano’s apology, the Philippines and Kuwait agreed on four measures related to the protection of distressed Filipino workers in the Gulf state, including repatriation of more than 600 nationals currently in shelter.
“The Philippines and Kuwait agreed on the following: To ensure immediate action by Kuwaiti authorities on pending requests for assistance from distressed Filipino workers; to facilitate the repatriation of the more than 600 Filipinos currently staying in shelters of the Philippine Embassy,” Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
The two nations also agreed “to assure justice for pending and future cases filed by Filipinos who are victims of serious abuse and other offenses,” Roque added.
They also agreed “to assure proper and humane treatment of Filipinos who may be taken into custody after the April 22 amnesty deadline and to repatriate them immediately with the assistance of the Philippine embassy.”
Roque had earlier said the proposed bilateral agreement enhancing the protection of Filipino workers in Kuwait will be signed possibly after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“We still expect the MOA (memorandum of agreement) providing the minimum terms and conditions of employment for our OFWs to be signed soon. As in fact, they are already talking about possible dates and the possible date maybe after this year's Ramadan,” Roque said during a Palace press briefing.
Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier summoned Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa and presented protest notes over the video showing embassy personnel rescuing Filipino workers. The ministry reportedly expressed regret over such practices that could harm relations between the two countries. The video that angered Kuwait reportedly came from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
No apology
Roque said the President was able to fix the conflict with Kuwait through his "very personal" and "very friendly" manner without having to issue any apology.
"Nagkaintindihan na mulia ng Kuwait at ang Pilipinas... Yung mga hindi pagkakaintindihan siguro, alam niyo kung ano iyon, iyung pino protest ang Kuwait, pero I think naayos naman ni Presidente ang sigalot na 'yan, minor lang naman [Kuwait and the Philippines now understand each other. Any misunderstanding that was protested by Kuwait has been solved by the President. It was just a minor one," he said
Asked if the President apologized to the Kuwaiti envoy over the rescue video, Roque said: "I don’t think that was necessary at all."
"I think he made it very clear that he had no other option but to protect Filipino workers in Kuwait. So I think that was made very clear to the Kuwait side; but at the same time – because we also have this policy of independent foreign policy – he also recognized the right of sovereignty as far as Kuwait is concerned," he added.
Kuwait vows to protect OFWs
Kuwait, for its part, has affirmed its commitment to protect and ensure the welfare of Filipino workers.
"What they agreed upon is that they will honor, you know, minimum standards of treating our OFWs. They will respect our rights to protect our workers in Kuwait," Roque said.
He acknowledged that the rescue video has caused some "unnecessary aggravation” on the part of Kuwait. "Obviously, the fact that the video shows Philippine authorities operating in the territory of Kuwait would be offensive to the concept of sovereignty," he said.
He said the two sides have agreed on closer coordination in conducting any rescue missions of distressed Filipino workers in Kuwait.
"There’s an agreement reached that there will be closer cooperation in protecting our Philippine nationals, and we will move forward with the relationship," he said.
Roque also expressed hope that there would be no pullout of ambassadors from each other's countries now the misunderstanding has been settled. (With reports from Roy C. Mabasa)