President Rodrigo Roa Duterte may consider imposing a deployment ban on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) again, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Wednesday (July 7).
He said the President is considering imposing the deployment ban if justice will not be given in the recent cases of two Filipino domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia who were abused by their employers.
According to Bello, one of the victims was raped by her former police employer and current employer, while the other Filipino was abused by her present employers.
The two Filipinos have returned to the Philippines and Bello ordered the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to suspend their foreign and local employment agencies.
In a memorandum issued on May 27, the Labor department ordered the first deployment ban on Saudi Arabia over reports of departing Filipino workers being required by their employers and agencies to shoulder the costs of the health and safety protocols for COVID-19 and insurance coverage premiums upon their entry in the country.
In June, President Duterte wrote to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of KSA to ask for appropriate treatment for the Filipinos working in that country as part of the abolishment of the kafala system.
The Philippines has been advocating against the kafala or sponsorship system in the United Nations and in other international fora, the Department of Foreign Affairs wrote on their website in November 2020.
(PTV News)/NGS- jlo
