MANILA – The long-term relations between the Philippines and Kuwait would not be affected despite the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait, Malacañang said Thursday.
“I’d like to think that the long-term Filipino-Kuwaiti relations will not be affected,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said in a Palace briefing.
Roque was responding to concerns raised by Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah that the ban could damage ties between the two countries.
Sheikh Sabah has refuted the statements of President Rodrigo R. Duterte on OFWs being treated “inhumanely”, saying that thousands of other Filipinos lived a decent life in Kuwait.
Roque, meanwhile, said that Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano would meet with the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh Thursday.
He said Duterte’s marching order to Cayetano was to get a commitment from the government of Kuwait to protect Filipinos in the Arab state.
Roque, meanwhile, restated the obligation of the Kuwaiti government to treat Filipino nationals in the same manner it treats its own nationals.
“I think the President is very clear, we will not tolerate abuses to be committed against Filipino nationals,” Roque said.
On Monday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered a total ban on the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait effective immediately.
The move follows Duterte’s directive amid reports of several deaths of Filipino workers, particularly household service workers in the host country.
The OFWs in Kuwait who are currently vacationing in the country are allowed to leave and return to their jobs, the Bureau of Immigration earlier said.
Meanwhile, under DOLE’s new directive, “Balik Manggagawa”, passengers are exempted from the deployment ban of OFWs to the Gulf state.
DOLE earlier assured returning OFWs that the government will provide them financial assistance and livelihood. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
