Bello sees March signing of pro-OFW MOU with Kuwait



By RIE TAKUMI, GMA News
Negotiations between Philippine labor officials and their counterparts in Kuwait regarding the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the protection of Filipino workers will begin on February 28.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Philippine negotiating team will be headed by Labor Usec. Claro Arellano, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) officer-in-charge Aristodes Ruaro, and POEA legal research OIC John Rio Bautista.
Among the provisions the Philippines will fight to include in the MOU is the right of Filipino workers to have possession of their passports or have it deposited with the Philippine Embassy or Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).
"The passport is owned by the Philippine government. Kaya hindi pupuwedeng kumpiskahin maski sino," Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad III said.
Lagunzad said the work permits carried by Filipino workers should be enough to allow them to carry out their affairs without giving their passports to anyone but Philippine authorities.
They also want Filipino workers to have the right to hold their own phones and SIM cards to allow them constant contact with their families and loved ones in the Philippines.
If negotiations are quickly resolved, the MOU may be signed as early as the second week of March, Bello said.
"If we will be able to get an MOU with them, and we can feel na meron silang sincerity in implementing this MOU, more or less guaranteed tayo sa safety of our overseas workers, Bello said.
Bello also announced during the same press briefing the following directives to improve the Department of Labor and Employment's services to OFWs:
  • Imperative for all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, labor attaches, and welfare officers to report all cases of abuse, maltreatment, and violation of work contracts in their respective jurisdiction within 24 hours after they are reported to their posts;
  • Formation of a multi-sectoral Command Center to respond to all welfare cases;
  • Renewal of POEA's One-Stop Shop for reintegration services
  • Cancellation of licenses of several recruitment agencies with serious violations and reassignment of negligent officers;
  • Sending a team of labor officers to Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to set up an alert system and assess the welfare of Filipino workers there;
  • Preparing the technical working group for the MOU negotiations with Kuwait.
"I have issued these directives now to set in motion the mechanisms to prevent a repeat of the tragedy that befell Joanna Demafelis," Bello said.
"With these bold steps, we hope to help guarantee the safety and secure the welfare of our migrant heroes."
Demafelis, a Filipina domestic worker, was found dead inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment unit in Kuwait two weeks ago. Her relatives in the Philippines said she had been missing for more than a year.
Demafelis' case prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to order a deployment ban of first-time OFWs to Kuwait. —KBK, GMA News

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