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Labor chief defends Duterte on OFW deployment ban to Kuwait

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/overseas/02/15/ofw-kuwait-labour.jpg"/><figcaption>Filipino workers who were repatriated from Kuwait take part in a dialogue with a Department of Labour official at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque, Wednesday. <em>Erik De Castro, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III defended Thursday President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s decision to expand a ban on Filipinos working in Kuwait due to reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation.</p><p>The Philippines on Monday announced a ban on sending Kuwait-bound overseas Filipino workers, including those who had already obtained employment permits but had not yet left for the wealthy oil-producing country. The deployment ban excludes OFWs vacationing in the Philippines or those returning to Kuwait under a renewed contract.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/12/18/ph-orders-total-ban-on-workers-deployment-to-kuwait">PH orders total ban on workers&#x27; deployment to Kuwait</a></li></ul><p>Duterte said his government would ask private airlines to evacuate Filipino nationals from Kuwait within 72 hours, after the discovery of the dead body of a Filipino migrant worker in a freezer.</p><p>The development could damage ties between the Philippines and Kuwait, warned the latter&#x27;s foreign affairs minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/13/18/kuwait-blasts-dutertes-call-to-evacuate-workers">Kuwait blasts Duterte&#x27;s call to evacuate workers</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Utlsqhnvt2M?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>In response, Bello said the President wants to make sure that Filipino workers are safe in Kuwait.</p><p>&quot;Dapat intindihin naman niya iyung posisyon ng ating Pangulo. Ikaw ba naman ang presidente ng isang manggagawa na pinasa ang buong katawan at inilagay sa freezer,&quot; Bello told DZMM.</p><p>(He should try to understand the position of the President. He is the president of a worker whose entire body was bruised and then placed inside a freezer.)</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/09/18/the-filipino-is-no-slave-duterte-fumes-at-latest-pinay-death-in-kuwait">&#x27;The Filipino is no slave&#x27;: Duterte fumes at latest Pinay death in Kuwait</a></li></ul><p>Filipina maid Joanna Daniela Demafelis lost contact with her family in February 2017. Her body had torture marks and was found stored in a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait, where it may have been kept for over a year, Bello had said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/10/18/family-seeks-justice-for-ofw-found-in-freezer-in-kuwait">Family seeks justice for OFW found in freezer in Kuwait</a></li></ul><p>Authorities say 252,000 Filipinos work in the Gulf state, many as maids. They are among over 2 million employed in the region, whose remittances are a lifeline to the Philippine economy.</p><div> </div>

<p>Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III defended Thursday President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to expand a ban on Filipinos working in Kuwait due to reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation.</p>

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III defended Thursday President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to expand a ban on Filipinos working in Kuwait due to reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation.