Duterte shouldn’t push the envelope

President Duterte should quit while he is ahead. The message in his complete ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait has been heard loud and clear by that country. Sheik Sabah al Ahmad as Sabah, the ruling emir of Kuwait, has responded by inviting Duterte for discussions on the issue that has riled the Philippine leader.

The invitation is a far cry from the initial reaction of a minor Kuwaiti official, who apparently wanted to fight fire with fire. But the emir, as leader of his country, see things in a much broader perspective and probably finds it better if tensions are allowed to relax a bit and allow relations to return to normal again as both countries clearly have a need for each other.

Kuwait provides a venue for the employment of thousands of Filipinos. In return, these Filipinos provide services to Kuwaitis that Kuwaitis may not be able to secure elsewhere with the same degree of competence and reliability. This relationship would have been a truly productive one for both parties had it not been for a few ruffles that, unfortunately, are truly unacceptable.

While not all forms of employment are the same, there appears to be a common thread that links household services together, be they in Kuwait or elsewhere. And it is that household services providers often get abused and maltreated. The Philippines has long agonized over this but has always had to step back in light of the expected trade-off, which is the loss of jobs.

But what happened to a Filipino woman in Kuwait, who was murdered and stored in a freezer, was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back. Duterte, true to form, exploded. He ordered the recall of Filipinos from that country and slapped a ban on further deployments. Not satisfied with that, he is now threatening to slap a similar ban on other countries.

Now that could really be something this country can ill afford at this time. A multiple ban will result in massive unemployment, which this country cannot fill and at best will result in underemployment.

Redeployment to friendlier countries cannot also happen overnight, given the scale of what Duterte must have in mind. So the best thing here is to cool down. Duterte has made his point and the message has been acknowledged. He should not reach out for the point of no return.