DOLE: Philippines, Kuwait ties not yet severed

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Kuwait are expected to proceed with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on greater protection for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) despite the diplomatic spat between the two countries, a ranking labor official said yesterday.

“They (Kuwaiti government) could have also stated specifically the talks on the MOA are off but there is no such thing. Or there’s no such thing to that effect,” Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras said at a press briefing.

As this developed, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said President Duterte was to make an announcement in Singapore on the “course of action” his administration would like to take on the issue.

Kuwait expelled Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa and recalled its own envoy in Manila over the clandestine rescue of abused OFWs in the Arab state.

For Paras, this development is “normal” and that it usually happens in an “international stage where an ambassador or an officer of the diplomatic corps of a country will be considered persona non grata.”

“But that does not amount to the severance of relationship between two countries. So I’m positive that Kuwait and Philippines’ relationship will continue,” he pointed out.

Paras also emphasized that the rescue of the abused OFWs was necessary because the amnesty extended by the Kuwaiti government to foreign workers had already expired.

“There will be police crackdown upon the expiration of the amnesty.  The police will start apprehending our workers with expired visa and those who have gotten away from their employers because of maltreatment,” he said.

The Philippine government, he added, just wanted to make sure the OFWs were taken to shelters and not rounded up by police.

“Our officers in Kuwait are duty bound to help our workers who have gone astray. Why would we allow them to be put in jail if we can help them?”

Paras explained many of the over 830 OFWs housed in two shelters are facing “trumped up charges” usually for resisting their employers’ sexual advances.

He said the Philippine government is always ready to defend OFWs facing cases in court but will turn over those covered by warrants of arrest.

‘Course of action’

In Singapore, Bello said President Duterte was to make an announcement last night on a “course of action” the country would take to resolve the issue with Kuwait.

“He (the President) was surprised with the turn of events,” Bello told reporters on the sidelines of the 32nd ASEAN summit. He did not say what or give a hint of the course of action the President would want to take.

“Let us give that to the President to announce it,” Bello said.

“The President will talk about it later. But we already have a course of action,” he added.

Upon his arrival in Singapore, the President immediately met with Bello, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and special assistant Christopher Go to discuss the  Kuwait issue and the coming Labor Day activities on May 1.

Bello also said the Philippines can count on several “friendly countries” for help in case its diplomatic spat with Kuwait worsens and displaces 250,000 Filipino workers in the tiny Arab state.

“We are getting overtures from several countries like Russia and of course, China. With China the bilateral agreement I recently signed was initially for 2,000 Filipino English teachers but they will need more than that,” Bello said,

He said the Czech Republic, Israel, Japan and Germany, among others, are in need of more caregivers and nurses.

But he said he is optimistic that relations between Kuwait and the Philippines would soon be back to normal.

Cayetano, for his part, said a contingency plan is in place to ensure the safety of OFWs in Kuwait.

“With over 200,000 Filipinos, it is very difficult to come up with a contingency plan that is perfect. But it is there and Kuwait has assured us that it is as important to them to keep the Filipinos there as it is important to us,” he said in a separate press briefing.

He said the President “has already given directions” on matters like where to get the money or how many OFWs would be repatriated or sent to other countries.

“That is why I said as much as possible and if you were going to ask me if there are 10,000 or 20,000 Filipinos there, I tell you, pulido yong plano (the plan is smooth) and it is complete like the local government units and private sector will adopt and other countries but with 200,000 Filipinos, it is very difficult but it is there,” Cayetano added.

He admitted it would not be easy to just transfer the OFWs to other countries as there are procedures to follow. He declined to identify the “friendly countries” that have offered to help the Philippines absorb the impact of the Kuwait problem.

Cayetano likewise said a charge d’affaires is likely to take the place of Villa who had been ordered to leave Kuwait. He stressed there had been no reports of harassment of Philippine embassy personnel in Kuwait.

He said the repatriation of over 1,000 OFWs would continue in the next few days.

The foreign affairs chief insisted the rescue operations were coordinated with Kuwait authorities.

Lessons learned

Senators, meanwhile, said the Philippines should take lessons from the diplomatic row with Kuwait, particularly from the expulsion of the ambassador.

Sen. Cynthia Villar said that while the expulsion of the country’s top diplomat in Kuwait was unfortunate, Manila should continue to exert all efforts to protect the Filipino workers.

“Whether or not Kuwait will get angry is out of the question. Our concern is we will always take care of our OFWs,” Villar told reporters. “We’ve apologized already (to Kuwait), so it’s up to them.

“Our concerns were not unfounded. Our OFW was placed in a freezer for one year – what’s that? Is that acceptable? I don’t think it’s acceptable. So whatever pain we have to suffer, we really have to protect our OFWs,” she added.

The senator was referring to the case of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis, a Filipino domestic helper who went missing for over a year before her body was found last February in a freezer. Her employers – a Lebanese and a Syrian – are reportedly under police custody.     

The same sentiment was raised by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who urged the Philippine government to press for the forging of an agreement on greater protection for OFWs.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, is pushing for high level visits to Kuwait.

He said sending such delegations will show the country puts importance to its relations with the oil-rich Arab state. –  With Paolo Romero