OFWs in Kuwait to gov’t: Close down negligent recruitment agencies


By LUCKY MAE F. QUILAO
Filipino workers in Kuwait welcomed the Philippine government's decision to suspend the deployment of newly hired OFWs to the Gulf country following incidents of abuses, but said it should also look into the "negligence" on the part of recruitment agencies.
"Ang mapang-abuso talaga dito ay ang mga agencies na pagkatapos i-deploy sa mga employer [ay] wala nang pakialam kahit binubugbog na ang mga katulong at nagkakasakit," said Geneveve Villarino via Messenger. "Dapat sa kanila ay ipasara."
Villarino, who has worked in Kuwait for two years, said she knew of incidents where Filipino household service workers (HSWs) are "sold" by their employers to their friends, even to those living in another country, making the OFW an illegal worker.
"Madalas nangyayari iyan lalo na kapag lumagpas na ng three or five months na nasa employer. Hindi ka na kasi puwedeng ibalik sa agency at hindi ka na rin tatanggapin ng agency," she said.
"So what will happen is ibebenta ka ng amo mo sa mga kakilala o kaibigan. Ang iba, binibenta sa ibang bansa," she added.
Though she approved of the deployment suspension, Villarino said this should be limited only to HSWs.
Marilyn Daza Canosa, a cook for 15 years for a Kuwaiti family, also urged the Philippine government to impose stricter rules on recruitment agencies.
"Para pare-parehas na maging okay ang lahat, dapat higpitan ng Pilipinas ang mga recruitment agencies," she said in a separate interview.
She lauded the deployment suspension as this would send a strong message to Kuwaiti employers.
"Pansamantala lang naman 'yan (suspension). Kakausapin nila 'yung goverment dito para maging maayos naman ang kalagayan ng mga OFWs. Kumbaga, babala 'yun dito sa mga Kuwaiti," Canosa said.
Another OFW in Kuwait, "Eula," said the suspension should be lifted only if the Philippine government receives an assurance from the Kuwaiti government that Filipino workers will be treated humanely there.
Upon orders from President Rodrigo Duterte, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III suspended last week the deployment of newly hired OFWs to Kuwait pending investigation on the deaths of seven OFWs there.
Before flying to New Delhi on Wednesday for the ASEAN-India Special Commemorative Summit, Duterte threatened to send all OFWs in Kuwait home if he hears of another case of abuse there.
Duterte likewise appealed to Kuwait and other Arab countries that are top destinations of OFWs to treat Filipino workers "with dignity."
An estimated 10 million Filipinos work overseas, majority of them in the Middle East, and the money they send home helps spur economic growth. In Kuwait, there is an estimated 260,000 Filipino workers, 170,000 of them employed as HSWs, who are considered vulnerable and prone to abuses. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more