Who posted rescue videos?

NOBODY wants take responsibility for the video showing embassy officials rescuing distressed Filipino workers in Kuwait that led to the diplomatic row between the Philippines and Kuwait.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has not issued any clarification regarding the video that went viral, particularly who gave the go signal for it to be posted or viewed in social media.

What was clear was that the video showing the rescue operation of the Philippine embassy was first posted on the Viber group of journalists covering the Department of Foreign Affairs by acting assistant secretary Elmer Cato on April 19.

Cato posted two videos -- one a 15-second clip showing a Filipino running towards a vehicle accompanied by a male person and a 24-second clip shot from inside a vehicle.

The individuals who took the video of the rescue were not identified but it was clear from the dialogue in one of the videos that there was an intention to document the rescue operations.

The 24-second video showed a woman running towards a waiting vehicle accompanied by another male person.

“Yan na, yan na. Nakunan ninyo? Go, go, go. Andar, andar (there she is, there she is. Did you get it? Go, go, go. Move it, move it),” a man was heard saying.

Another man was heard asking a female companion if she was able to take the video of the rescue. She responded in the affirmative.

The video, which was posted on the Viber group, was picked up by some news agencies. Some journalists posted it in social media.

The Philippines embassy in Kuwait, with the support of the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs (OMWA), carried out the rescue missions and helped 26 distressed household service workers since April 7.

These teams would proceed to the given address, knock and request the employer to present the Filipino worker.

If the household service worker has injuries, the Kuwaiti police are immediately called in and the Embassy takes custody of the Filipino.

While rescues require police assistance, there were cases when the rescue teams had to do it on their own, especially in cases of sexual and physical abuse.

The videos that went viral allegedly angered the Kuwaiti government, prompting it to summon Ambassador Renato Villa to hand him two protest notes for violating Kuwait’s sovereignty.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano apologized for the rescue missions but he maintained that the Philippine embassy did not violate Kuwaiti laws.

He said the embassy received four to five requests for rescue a day and most of these cases were coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities.

“We still did not violate Kuwaiti laws by knocking on doors, we did not go into the houses, we did not take the law into our own hands,” Cayetano said.

“We remain convinced that the actions we took in Kuwait are a rightful exercise of our duty under international law to protect our nationals abroad. Our actions are consistent both with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” he added.

Sen. Nancy Binay said someone should be held accountable for the diplomatic row between the Philippines and Kuwait caused by the release of videos showing the rescue of Filipino domestic workers.

Binay urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to look into the matter and administer sanction to those who possibly violated protocol by uploading the rescue video.