MANILA, Philippines — Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salen Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah condemned the killing of overseas Filipino worker Jullebee Ranara, who was found dead in the desert last week.
Jose Cabrera III, chargé d’affaires at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, where Sheikh Salem expressed his condolences to Ranara’s family and to the Philippine government.
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“Sheik Salem added that the actions of the perpetrator do not in any way reflect the character and values of Kuwaiti society, the Kuwaiti people and the Kuwaiti government,” the embassy’s statement said.
Kuwait’s foreign minister also said it will keep the embassy posted on updates regarding Ranara’s case. The two officials “expressed a mutual commitment to closer dialogue and engagement,” especially in the next months.
The suspect, the 17-year-old son of Ranara's employers, has been in custody of Kuwaiti authorities since last week.
The 35-year-old domestic worker’s burnt body was repatriated on Friday, expenses of which were shouldered by her employers.
Philippine authorities have since kicked off their own investigation into the case, which includes sending a fact-finding mission to Kuwait led by officials from the Department of Migrant Workers and seeking assistance from the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an autopsy.
Tulfo wants public apology
Back home, the lawmaker leading the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers said he wants to get a public apology from the Kuwaiti government as this is not the first time an OFW died in the hands of their employer while deployed in the Gulf state.
“I have so many years of experience where I saw how OFWs have been treated wrongly, where employers have been making them suffer through inhumane working conditions,” Tulfo said in Filipino.
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Tulfo, in a resolution dated January 30, called for a Senate review of the Philippines’ existing bilateral labor agreement in Kuwait “with the end view of establishing stricter policies, preventive measures, and applicable sanctions” or consider a deployment ban.
READ: Tulfo seeks Senate review of Philippines-Kuwait labor agreement
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople has turned down calls for a deployment ban to Kuwait as she prefers smoothing things over through talks and labor diplomacy.
However, Tulfo emphasized on Monday that the Philippines already has an existing labor agreement with Kuwait, but incidents such as Ranara’s case still happen.
“Incidents like this happened in 2018 – we lifted the deployment ban, we talked to Kuwaiti auhotirites, there were suggestions and bilateral talks were held, which led to changes in employment contracts, but it still happened,” Tulfo said. – with reports from Xave Gregorio