Duterte: PHL continuing to work with host nations to ensure welfare of OFWs

SONA 2018


By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday called on countries hosting Filipino workers to ensure their welfare.
In his third State of the Nation Address, Duterte recognized the millions of overseas Filipino workers for their “selflessness and courage” in enduring the hardships of living away from home to provide for their families as well as their contribution to the national economy.
“You epitomize the innate resilience of the nation...You have also contributed greatly to the national economy, even as you help in small and big ways to the economies of our international partners,” the president said.
Duterte then “strongly condemned” the deaths and abuses experienced by Filipino migrant workers in the hands of their foreign employers.
“I have said this before and I say it again: I am a worker of government, and it is my vow to make sure that your well-being remains our foremost foreign policy concern,” he said.
“It is for this reason that we are continuing to work with the host nations to ensure the welfare of our countrymen. I appeal to all host governments to help us, as true and dependable partners, in this endeavor,” Duterte added.
Duterte’s remarks came two months after the Philippines and Kuwait ended their diplomatic row over Filipino workers abused by their employers in the Gulf state.
Both countries entered into an agreement on the protection and welfare of OFWs, prompting Duterte to lift the total deployment ban on new hires.
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.  — RSJ, GMA News

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