Palace: OFW deployment ban to Kuwait stays

MANILA, Philippines — The total deployment ban to Kuwait stays until the Gulf state implements the inclusion of greater labor protection provisions in the contracts of Filipino workers, Malacañang said.

President Duterte approved the recommendation of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to stop sending workers to Kuwait, following the death of 26-year-old Filipina household service worker Jeanalyn Villavende.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday said the President made the decision after a re-autopsy of Villavende’s body showed that she was not just physically injured but also sexually abused.

“The result of the re-autopsy conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) indicates that overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jeanelyn Villavende was sexually abused and sodomized, which means that the Kuwaiti government was attempting to hide the circumstance when it gave us a general autopsy report that the cause of death was trauma and bruises all over her body,” Panelo said.

“PRRD is for a total ban until the memorandum of agreement between the two countries is fully implemented and the terms contained therein are incorporated in every labor contract with our OFWs,” he added, referring to the President with his initials.

The two countries signed the agreement in 2018 after the Philippines imposed a similar ban, following the death of Joanna Demafelis whose body was found inside a freezer.

The newly imposed ban covers household service workers, semi skilled and skilled workers, as well as professionals, including Filipino seafarers.

In an interview, Panelo said there is no word yet whether or not the President will still proceed with a plan to visit Kuwait following the latest developments.