PH imposes total OFW deployment ban to Kuwait

The Philippine government is imposing a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait in the wake of the death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jeanelyn Villavende, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced Wednesday.

The move came after the Philippine Overseas Employ

ment Administration (POEA) approved a resolution imposing a total ban on the deployment of workers to Kuwait.

It said the total ban was made on recommendation of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

Earlier in the day, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra recommended the ban on deployment of workers in Kuwait following the killings of two OFWs.

“My recommendation is yes to deployment ban. But I do not know if he Secretary Bello would accept it. He would probably make an announcement. It is really up to DOLE,” Guevarra said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum.

The two incidents on the brutal killing of two OFWs in Kuwait referred to by Guevarra were those involving the death of Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment, and the December 28 death of Villavende, who succumbed to multiple, severe and traumatic injuries.

Guevarra said that the death of Demafelis triggered the signing of a bilateral agreement between the governments of the Philippines and Kuwait on the protection of OFWs.

The death of Villavende was a proof that the Kuwaiti government failed to live up to its commitment, he said.

“This happened and now we would see how the government of Kuwait would react on this development. We already have a clear agreement with them so if they do not comply with their undertaking or responsibilities on a governmentto government basis, in my opinion our OFWS can find work in other countries,” he pointed out.

“If there are other places where they could work, then why go to a country where you are disrespected, where you are abused,” he stressed.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) submitted to Guevarra its report on the autopsy conducted on the body of Villavende.

Guevarra said that while the autopsy report from Kuwait and the one submitted by the NBI are the same on the cause of death of Villavende, there were findings by the NBI that were not seen in the Kuwaiti autopsy.

Both reports stated that the cause of death was “consistent with multiple, severe, traumatic injuries.”