Filipino diplomats arrested in Kuwait to return home soon

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is confident that the three Filipino diplomats arrested in Kuwait will be allowed to return to Manila in the next few days.

This follows the release of four Filipino drivers who were arrested for assisting Philippine Embassy officials in rescue operations for distressed Filipino domestic helpers in the Gulf state. The action was seen as a violation of diplomatic norms and infringement on Kuwait’s sovereignty.

"We also have been working behind the scenes with our Kuwaiti counterparts to facilitate the immediate return to Manila of our three colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs. We are confident this will happen in a few days," Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday.

Cayetano has arrived in Kuwait on Thursday for a meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart to discuss how to move forward following a diplomatic standoff between the two countries.

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The Philippines' top diplomat expressed hope that a memorandum of understanding on safeguarding the welfare of OFWs will be signed after his meeting with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah.

"It is our hope that the momentum created by the goodwill generated by our two sides during the past three weeks would lead to the signing today of the Memorandum of Agreement between our two countries," Cayetano said.

The Foreign Affairs chief also expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti government for its cooperation to "normalize ties" with the Philippines and ensure the well-being of the more than 250,000 Filipinos working in the Middle Eastern nation.

"I am particularly heartened by the positive gestures of the Kuwaiti Government, most especially in the past several days, that assured us of its firm commitment to help ensure the well-being of thousands of our kababayans who they have so generously been hosting in the past four decades," he said.

As a result of the negotiations between the two countries, Kuwait has agreed to repatriate Filipino workers in shelters, as well as those who are still in households waiting for help; activate a 24/7 hotline for distressed Filipinos and create a special police unit that would assist the Philippine Embassy in responding to distress calls.

Malacañang earlier said that the deployment ban to Kuwait may be partially lifted if the memorandum of agreement will be signed.

“I am still getting authority from the President to say certain matters. But I would say that I am confident that with the signing of the MOA, there will be a partial lifting. There could not be full lifting until we have arranged the other details,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.

Roque and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III had flown to Kuwait earlier this week to seek the normalization of diplomatic ties with the Gulf state.