Duterte lists demands for Kuwait over OFW deployment



By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday outlined the Philippines' demands to Kuwait to ensure the protection of Filipino workers, mostly household service workers, in the oil-rich nation as both countries work towards inking a deal next month.
Speaking at the graduation rites of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in Silang, Cavite, Duterte said passports of all overseas Filipino workers should no longer be confiscated by their employers, workers must get at least seven hours a day of sleep and should be allowed to avail of holiday leaves.
"That they will be fed nutritious food. And that we will not allow leftovers to be eaten by our countrymen. Palutuin sila ng kanila," the President said.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), for its part, mentioned provisions such as the binding effect of the Philippine-crafted employment contract, the guaranteed payment of minimum monthly net pay of $400 through the bank, and non-confiscation of mobile phones and other communication gadgets.
Duterte arrived around two hours late to the PNPA event that was supposed to start at 10 a.m., saying he had to give his inputs to the final draft of the Philippines' demands to Kuwait.
"I have said that we are not slaves. Maybe your only fault [is]....because mahirap lang kami," he said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Tuesday the signing of the agreement may take place in the first week of April, while the venue is yet to be determined.
He also said the formal signing would not automatically result to the lifting of the deployment ban.
Kuwaiti officials and their Philippine counterparts concluded last Friday the formal talks on the provisions of the proposed agreement which will govern the deployment, employment and treatment of Filipino workers while staying in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti officials, led by Ambassador Ganhim Saqer Ali Shaheen Al Ganhim, arrived on March 15 to negotiate the terms of the agreement weeks after the Philippine government decided on a total ban on deployment of new workers to the Arab state on the issue of rampant abuses.
The most serious case was the recent discovery of Joanna Demafelis' body stuffed in a freezer in the residence of her former employers in Kuwaiti.
Prior to the grim discovery, her relatives in the Philippines said she had been missing for more than a year. Autopsy results showed she died due to severe beating allegedly at the hands of her employer.
Demafelis' employers have been arrested. —ALG/RSJ, GMA News

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