MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano shouted at each other and argued over who was to blame for the Kuwaiti fiasco, sources said yesterday.
The sources said the incident happened at Malacañang last week after Kuwait expelled Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa from the Gulf state.
“They shouted at each other,” a source told The STAR.
UPDATE: Bello denies reported 'shouting match' with Cayetano
Another source said the incident “happened in Malacañang Palace before President Duterte left for Singapore” to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
“They argued on who was to blame for the Kuwait fiasco,” the source said.
Sources told The STAR last week that Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-UOMWA) Sarah Lou Arriola had authorized the rescue missions in Kuwait in disregard of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Arriola had reportedly sent a special rapid response team for the rescue of distressed Filipino workers from Kuwaiti households. Kuwait decried this as a violation of diplomatic norms and infringement on its sovereignty.
Arriola also brought to Kuwait DFA assistant secretary Elmer Cato, who authorized the uploading of the rescue videos on Facebook.
Kuwait issued a warrant of arrest and travel ban against DFA-OUMWA executive director Raul Dado for his supervision of the seven teams from the Philippine embassy and the DFA that carried out the rescues.
Arrest warrants were also issued against Francis Baquiran and Omar Hassan.
Embassy staff had seen Dado’s photos all over immigration counters at the airport.
“When (Dado) was told that his photos are all over immigration counters at the airport, the three sneaked into the embassy and did not go to their hotel,” a source said.
The three diplomatic personnel were pinpointed by the four drivers they hired to bring distressed Filipino workers to the airport.
The four drivers were reportedly arrested.
The DFA served last Thursday a diplomatic note to the Kuwaiti embassy conveying its surprise and displeasure over the declaration of Villa as persona non grata; the continued detention of four Filipinos hired by the embassy and the issuance of arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel.
But Kuwait has not responded to the diplomatic note asking the Kuwaiti government to ensure safe passage for the three Filipino diplomatic personnel.
The DFA said Kuwait’s expulsion of Villa, detention of the drivers and arrest warrants against the three diplomatic personnel are inconsistent with the assurances and representations made by Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh on the various concerns that were brought to his attention by Cayetano during their meeting in Manila last Tuesday.