Duterte to Kuwait Employers: Treat Filipinos With Dignity

President Rodrigo Duterte warned Kuwaiti employers to stop abusing Filipino workers in their country, otherwise they’ll suffer the consequences.

“I hope I’m not committing a diplomatic faux pas, but one more incident about being a woman Filipina worker being raped there, committing suicide, I’m going to stop, to ban and I’m sorry to the Filipinos there, you can all go home,” he said in his pre-departure speech before his flight to India Wednesday.

“Can I ask you now just to treat my countrymen as human beings with dignity? I do not want to fight with you. We need your help to improve our country,” he added.

Duterte’s warning comes after the Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued an administrative order Friday evening calling for the immediate suspension of deployment of Filipino workers to Kwait. The Department of Foreign Affairs is looking into the possibility of a total deployment ban.

The Labor Department is still probing the deaths of seven OFWs in Kuwait, namely: Liezl Truz Hukdong, Vanessa Karissha L. Esguerra, Marie Fe Saliling Librada, Arlene Castillo Manzano, Devine Riche Encarnacion, Patrick Sunga, and Mira Luna Juntilla. All of them were household services workers, who were deployed in 2016.

Kuwaiti state-run news agency KUNA reported that Kuwait Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah claimed the cases of the seven victims did not apply to the majority of OFWs. Sabah also told KUNA that Kuwait had a clean human rights record.

The Kuwaiti government also summoned Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa on Tuesday to express regret with Duterte’s decision.

Kuwait remains a top destination of migrant workers from the Philippines. Cash remittances from the country amounted to $735 million (P37.5 billion) from January to November 2017, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showed.