By NG Seruela
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte again called for the dismantling of the Kafala system in the Middle East.
In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA), he asserted the abolishment of the inhumane labor conditions experienced by the migrant workers in the Middle East. He emphasized that the Filipinos are not slaves.
“We called on the world to dismantle the heinous Kafala system because the Filipino is no slave to anyone anywhere,” he said.
President Duterte said there is “no room for modern-day slavery.” He called on the Middle East and insisted that the Kafala system is a “set-up for slavery.”
“To everybody in the Middle East, I would like to tell them that not only Filipinos, but all human beings — the Kafala system has no place there because it is a set-up for slavery.”
He added that he will not hesitate to ask the Filipinos to go home if the system is not “corrected.”
In June, President Duterte wrote to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to ask for appropriate treatment for the Filipinos working in that country as part of the abolishment of the Kafala system. -rir
