DOLE to study lifting of OFW ban on Kuwait

Following the arrest of the suspects behind the killing of Filipina domestic helper Joanna Demafelis, whose body was kept in a freezer for over a year, the government will look into the possibility of lifting the total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait.

Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said officials of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will discuss and come out with a recommendation on whether or not to lift the ban.

“It will really (depend) on the situation of the arrested suspects. After we have confirmed the situation, the DOLE management committee will meet, discuss and we might recommend,” Say disclosed.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the arrest is a positive gesture on the part of the Kuwaiti government, but may still not be enough to convince President Duterte to order the lifting of the ban.

“We will see what the Kuwaiti government will do. The most important thing is if the Kuwaiti government will sign the agreement providing protection to our OFWs. If they will sign, the President may possibly lift the ban,” Bello pointed out.

Say said the forging of a memorandum of agreement to ensure protection of OFWs in Kuwait is among the factors to be considered by the government in deciding on the lifting of the total deployment ban.

But it would be Duterte who will make the final decision on its lifting, Bello added.

Noting that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is already conducting a probe into possible violations, Say said the recruitment agencies that deployed the Filipina worker might also face sanctions.

Last Thursday, DOLE sent a team to Kuwait to check on the condition of Filipino workers in the Arab country.

“President Duterte wants to know the situation of our citizens in Kuwait,” Say noted as the government continued to repatriate distressed workers from Kuwait. He added that the government is expecting a surge in the number of those seeking repatriation after the Kuwaiti government extended the amnesty program.

Workers’ appeal

A group of skilled OFWs affected by the ban appealed earlier for DOLE to reconsider the policy. They said that if the ban will not be lifted soonest, workers would lose their jobs and might find it hard to support their families as they have no other source of income.

Recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani urged Bello to reconsider the ban, which enters its fifth week.

He pointed out that skilled workers – oil and gas engineers, IT professionals, nurses, medical and laboratory technicians, store mangers, sales personnel, communication technicians, maintenance personnel, electricians, plumbers and carpenters – who have already been issued visas are appealing to save their jobs.

Geslani claimed that these workers, who have resigned from their jobs in the country, were just waiting for their plane tickets when the ban was imposed last Jan. 22. If the impasse on the deployment ban continues next month, recruitment agencies fear that the visas and other time-bound documents, like a medical certification, would expire. When this happens, workers might have to start from scratch to work abroad.

During their meeting with Bello last week, around 300 skilled workers made an emotional appeal for the lifting of the ban. They argued that unlike domestic helpers, who fall into a different labor category, skilled workers are covered by Kuwaiti labor laws. In 2016, around 105,000 OFWs were deployed to Kuwait. At least 57,061 of them were domestic helpers. Currently, there are 270,000 OFWs in Kuwait and almost 150,000 of them are maids.

The recruitment agencies also fear that the country’s friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Yemen, which is host to 2.2 million Filipinos, might be affected. The combined annual remittances from OFWs working there amount to $28 billion.

Trust fund

At the House of Representatives, Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas filed House Bill 4400 that seeks to establish a special assistance fund, with P1 billion in seed money, to help troubled OFWs.

“They deserve much attention, care and protection. It’s just right to give back to them what they have contributed to the growth of the country,” Vargas said.

“Our OFWs are called the unsung heroes and backbone of the Philippine economy. It is only fair and prudent that the government looks after the total well-being of those who have contributed significantly to the country, like the OFWs,” he added.

According to him, proceeds of the proposed trust fund can be used by the national government for the “repatriation, medical expenses and migration fees for overstaying Filipino workers abroad.”

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo urged Bello to fire officials who may be found incompetent and who committed gross neglect of duty in saving the life of Demafelis.

“It is not enough that the DOLE, on orders of the President, has imposed a total ban on deployment to Kuwait,” he said, noting that Demafelis’ family had pleaded for help after they lost communication with her.

“About 5.8 percent of some 2.4 million documented OFWs are in Kuwait, the fourthlargest destination of Filipinos who work abroad. That’s about 150,000 OFWs needing protection,” Castelo pointed out.

He said the OWWA is mandated to “look after their welfare,” yet in recent weeks at least eight have been reported dead, the latest a victim of apparent foul play at the hands of her employers.

“What exactly is OWWA doing to ensure their welfare and protect them from abuse by their employers? The President should either fire all the officials of OWWA for gross neglect of duty, irresponsibility, incompetence, infidelity to their oath of office,” Castelo suggested.

Two others – Reps. Bernadette Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon and Salvador Belaro Jr. of 1-Ang Edukasyon – have also put forth possible solutions to current OFW woes requiring urgent action.

Herrera-Dy, chair of the House committee on public information, urged the Department of Foreign Affairs and DOLE to apply diplomatic persuasion to convince Kuwait to sign and ratify four specific international conventions protecting migrant workers.

“It would be advantageous for Kuwait to unite with the international community and make their labor laws conform with international conventions on the welfare of migrant workers,” the House assistant majority leader said.

For his part, Belaro agrees with Bello on the need to rethink the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) program of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.

Belaro, also an assistant majority leader, said the POEA, Commission on Higher Education and state universities and colleges (SUCs) should team up to implement a much better replacement or version of the PDOS.

He added that the SUCs would be the wise option to deliver the PDOS because of their presence in all provinces of the country. “The SUCs have the needed expertise to implement PDOS and at reasonable, much lower cost than the private firms that give PDOS seminars.”