Kin of Ill-fated OFW asks for red roses at her wake; DMW sends team to Kuwait

RED roses were Jullebee Ranara’s favorite. As such, the bereaved family of the unfortunate domestic worker, whose grisly murder in Kuwait has sparked calls for another deployment ban to the oil-rich kingdom, has asked for the said red blooms to adorn her casket on the last night of her wake.

“Just came from Jullebee’s wake,” reported Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople through Viber on Sunday, as she conveyed to reporters the family’s request.

“[They] requested red roses as part of floral arrangements for the last night of the wake, [as they were her favorite],” said Ople, as she posted a photo of herself before Ranara’s casket, which was adorned with mostly white flowers: anthuriums and daisies.

Earlier on Saturday, as the clamor for another deployment ban of Filipino domestic workers to Kuwait grew louder, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) chief ordered the deployment of a fact-finding team to the Middle Eastern country to assess the performance of its overseas labor post and review pending welfare cases there.

The secretary made the announcement at a virtual press conference, a day after the remains of Ranara arrived in the country. The latter’s gruesome murder—her body, burned after she was apparently raped and run over with a car, then burned, was found in the desert— has sparked widespread protests and a call to ban anew the deployment of domestics in Kuwait.

Joining Ople during Saturday’s press conference were Undersecretary for Foreign Employment and Welfare Services Hans Cacdac, Undersecretary for Licensing and Accreditation Bernard Olalia, and Administrator Arnell Ignacio of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), which is an attached agency of the department.

Cacdac will organize the factfinding mission to be led by a senior labor attaché posted outside Kuwait.

“We in the department must go by an evidence-based approach to labor reform policies,” Ople shared. “Given also the increase in deployment and welfare numbers in Kuwait last year, it is imperative that we look at the root causes behind these numbers.”

She added that the independent team will make an assessment on the overall performance and structure of the Migrant Workers Office (MWO), or what was known as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, in Kuwait.

“With more than a hundred thousand kasambahays in Kuwait, [we] must increase the monitoring and response mechanisms of our MWO,” the DMW chief said.

Among the parameters the factfinding team will review, she announced, include a comparative study on the number of welfare cases of distressed OFWS over a period of five years, elements that triggered the rise in these cases, the response time of both Philippine and Kuwaiti authorities and recruitment agencies in addressing calls for assistance, and the degree of foreign recruitment agencies’ engagements in monitoring their workers and screening their employers.

“We will look into the inordinately high number of welfare cases in Kuwait over the past several months. We will also check if there were lapses on the part of the MWO in responding to calls for welfare assistance among our OFWS. The report of the factfinding mission will be submitted to my office for appropriate action,” Ople said, partly in Filipino.

She remarked that, following the Ranara family’s request, the DMW— through OWWA—HAS coordinated with the National Bureau of Investigation for an autopsy to be conducted on the OFW’S remains. Recruiters for investigation MEANWHILE, Olalia confirmed that separate recruitment violation cases will be filed against Catalist International Manpower Services Co. and Platinum International Office for Recruitment of Domestic Manpower—the Philippine and Kuwaiti recruitment agencies, respectively, that facilitated Jullebee’s deployment.

Olalia explained that based on an initial investigation conducted by his office, both agencies failed to comply with the mandatory monitoring required of recruitment agencies to ensure the well-being of their deployed workers.

Ignacio, on the other hand, reported to the media that his office has been looking after the Ranara family. He said they are now working for the early release of insurance and other financial claims due the family of Jullebee, who was an active OW WA member at her time of death. Tulfo: ‘Total ban’

FOR his part, Senator Raffy Tulfo proposed a total deployment ban in Kuwait, and the gradual transfer of OFWS there to safer places.

Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, waited for the arrival of the remains of Ranara at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday night, January 27.

Her burnt body was reportedly found at a desert in Salmi, Al-jahra Governorate last weekend.

The senator maintained that bilateral talks between Philippines and Kuwait could push through after a deployment ban, but with consideration of the Philippines’s terms and conditions.

Among the conditions Tulfo noted include requiring a tight screening process and psychiatric examination for employers in high-risk countries, as well as members of their household, to ensure that they are fit to hire OFWS in their homes.

The senator's office noted that, while Ranara’s employers supposedly treated her well, their 17-year-old son, who was part of the household, reportedly maltreated her. The same child is the suspect in her death, and is now under police custody.

For starters, Tulfo suggested to gradually pull out OFWS in Kuwait, and send them instead to work in places where OFWS are properly compensated and treated with respect, such as Guam.

The United States island-territory is a new market for Filipino laborers currently needing thousands of skilled workers. In fact, it reportedly prefers to hire more Filipino workers. Aside from Guam, the government can also explore sending OFWS in Kuwait to work in other safer places, including Romania, Austria and Hong Kong.

Ranara is not the first OFW to be killed in Kuwait. The Philippines had earlier imposed a labor deployment ban on the Gulf state, after the shocking deaths of several Filipino domestic workers.

The ban was eventually lifted after the two countries signed a protection agreement for Filipino laborers.

Upon learning about her death, Tulfo earlier sent members of his staff to meet with Ranara’s parents not only to check on their condition amid their great loss, but also to give an initial financial assistance from his personal funds to address their immediate needs.