Commendable beginning for mending PH-Kuwait relations

WITH little fanfare and without grandiose statements, Ku commenced the process of mending the diplomatic friction between them by starting to talk and exchange ideas.

a meeting was held Thursday between Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah and a Philippine delegation led by Abdullah Mamao, the presidential adviser on OFWs.

The state-owned Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported labor row between the Philippines and Kuwait.

“They stressed the depth of friendly relations between both sides, pointing to mutual willingness to promote and develop them, and to overcome the crisis for the common interest of both countries,” the report said.

The agency added that the meeting was attended by Assistant Foreign Minister for Asia Ambassador Ali Al-Said, Assistant Foreign Minister for Protocols Ambassador Dhari Al-Ajran, Assistant Foreign Minister for the Deputy Foreign Ambassador to the Philippines Musaed Al-Thuwaikh.

It is probably just as well that the Philippine side was not (DFA), who would be receiving instructions from embattled Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who is at present not highly regarded by the Kuwaiti government.

will be fully heard by Kuwait. On Monday, May 7, a team process of mending our bilateral relationship. The size and scope of the delegation manifest the importance the Philippines and President Duterte attach to our relations.

That sense of importance was momentarily twisted by the inexcusable decision of the DFA and the Philippine embassy in Kuwait to authorize the extraction by teams sent from Manila of Filipino domestic workers from their places of employment, on the pretense of rescuing them from harm. These actions were executed without the merest effort to inform or coordinate with the Kuwaiti authorities – a clear violation of Kuwaiti sovereignty.

The extractions were recorded on video. As if the offense were not illegal enough, the DFA then authorized the posting of the videos on social media, thereby rubbing salt to injury. It was these actions that enraged Kuwait’s government and impelled it to expel the Philippine ambassador to Kuwait, Mr. Renato Villa. They were inexcusable.

To say this is not to forget that our bilateral relationship was originally disrupted by the murder of OFW Joanna Demafelis and the discovery of her body in a freezer in Kuwait. This awful crime understandably impelled President Rodrigo Duterte to order a stop to the deployment of Filipino workers, especially household domestic workers, to Kuwait.

Today, both our countries are working frantically to cope with the mess that this horrible tragedy has spawned. And we are both anxious to restore the relationship to closeness, trust and mutuality.

- diplomatic row that was triggered by the embassy-led rescues of OFWs in Kuwait.

Minister Al-Jarallah also expressed Kuwait’s readiness to work with our government in addressing the chief concerns of our OFWs in Kuwait – their rights and their welfare.

We should accept this earnest and reciprocate by pledging our own determination to repair and strengthen the relationship.

This is not a time for platitudes about our historic and invaluable ties. This is rather a time for resolve to come up with new understandings on vital issues and to invest meaning in our bilateral relations.