By
Jelly Musico
February
13, 2018
MANILA
-- President Rodrigo Duterte is still weighing whether to push through his plan
to visit Kuwait, Malacanang said on Tuesday.
“As
of now, there still no assurance if that trip to Kuwait will push through,”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing held in Tabuk,
Kalinga.
Roque
said Duterte’s trip would depend on how the Kuwait government would act on the
case of Filipinas who were maltreated and abused by their employers.
“That
(trip) is still being studied because we are waiting for signs from Kuwait
government on how they will provide justice for our countrymen who were victims
of abuses in Kuwait,” he said.
Roque
said under the international law, every country had an obligation to protect
and give justice to the migrant workers.
He
said the Philippines was now looking for alternative countries where the
Filipinos who opted to leave Kuwait could find new jobs.
“Our
priority are those countries who already signed International Labor
Organization (ILO) Convention that recognize the rights of the migrant
workers,” Roque said.
“We
are looking for countries like Oman and Bahrain which have no records of abuses
against our fellow Filipinos,” he added.
Roque,
meanwhile, clarified that Duterte’s order to bring home Filipinos in Kuwait is
not mandatory.
“If
those who are working in Kuwait want to stay, the decision is up to them. But
if they are maltreated, President Duterte will not allow foreigners to abuse
them like animals,” Roque said.
Duterte
is set to welcome 127 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Kuwait on Tuesday
night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.
Duterte
will lead the ceremonial distribution of PHP5,000 immediate financial
assistance for each OFW amnesty availee.
Aside
from PHP5,000, Roque said OFWs who voluntarily opt to be repatriated would
receive an additional PHP20,000 as livelihood aid from the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA).
On
Friday, the President ordered the ban on deployment of OFWs to Kuwait after the
body of a migrant Filipina worker Joanna Daniela Demafelis was found in a
freezer.
