LABOR DEPT SUSPENDS DEPLOYMENT OF OFWs TO KUWAIT

LABOR Secretary Silvestre Bello suspended on Friday the deployment of workers to Kuwait following the deaths of seven Filipinas from alleged abuse by their employers.

Bello directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency ( POEA) to stop processing the bound workers.

Administrative Order 25, issued on Friday, takes effect immediately, Bello said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is investigating the supposed deaths.

A little less than a year ago, Jakatia Pawa, a domestic helper, was convicted for the murder of a member of her employer’s family and was sentenced to die by hanging.

Malacanang said that the Philippine government had done everything it could to save Pawa, including legal assistance to ensure that her rights were respected and all legal procedures were followed.

Manila “exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion. Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws,” it said.

Around 240,000 Filipinos are working and living in Kuwait, some of them domestic helpers.

Kuwait has executed 74 men and six women since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960. Most of those condemned have been con

At least 50 prisoners are on death row.

Capital punishment is widespread in the Gulf region, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Every year Tehran and Riyadh execute hundreds of people, most