'WE'RE NOW OKAY' Duterte thanks Kuwait for signing protection deal for OFWs

Filtered By: Pinoyabroad
PINOY ABROAD

By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday thanked Kuwait for signing an agreement with the Philippines regarding the protection of Filipino migrant workers in the Gulf state.
Speaking at the 120th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Navy in Pasay City, Duterte indicated that the relations between the Philippines and Kuwait are now back to normal following a diplomatic row over the treatment of OFWs.
"We’re okay now with Kuwait. My conditions were met. That they must be guaranteed before I signed the lifting of the ban. And the Kuwait government has shown the courage also in meeting our challenge," Duterte said.
"And frankly I’d like to thank officially the Kuwait government for giving us these conditions."
Negotiations for the deal followed, which nearly fell through following the controversial rescue of distressed OFWs by the Philippine embassy staff in April.
Videos of the rescue of Filipinos by Philippine diplomatic staff from their Kuwaiti employers circulated in the media, angering the Kuwaiti government which viewed the act as a violation of its sovereignty and decried what it called as “inappropriate behavior” by the diplomatic staff.
Kuwait also expelled Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa and recalled its envoy in Manila.
Duterte then sent some of his officials early this month to thresh out issues with Kuwait, which culminated in the signing of a labor pact advancing the protection and welfare of OFWs on May 11.
Among the key features of the agreement are the provision for food, housing, clothing, and the registration in the health insurance system for domestic workers, as well as the use of cellular phones so that OFWs could communicate with their relatives in the Philippines.
The deal also provides that the employer should open a bank account under the domestic worker's name to allow the reasonable opportunity to remit his or her monthly salary to relatives in the Philippines.
Some 260,000 Filipinos live and work in Kuwait, mostly household service workers, according t

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