THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines urged the Department of Labor and Employment to reconsider its plan to ban the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers to Kuwait due to reports of abuses.
The appeal was made by CBCP’s Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People chairman Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos after Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced plans to impose temporary suspension of deployment of household workers in Kuwait.
In a statement, Santos said the government should instead make good on its promise to provide alternative or permanent jobs to all Filipinos so that they will not be forced to work abroad.
Bello said there has been growing calls for a moratorium due to the abuses experienced by OFWs, particularly female household service workers.
“We are taking this call for a moratorium seriously. We will conduct consultations with our partners and other government agencies,” Bello earlier said.
Another Filipino, Elpidio Lano is in death row after the Kuwait Court of First Instance sentenced him to death for killing a fellow Filipino, Nilo Macaranas on June 17, 2014.
The prelate said that temporarily banning works in Kuwait is not the answer, “it will just create difficulties to our people.”
The bishop also called on the government to make sure the needs of overseas Filipino workers are given proper attention.
“We have to accompany and always assist our OFWs there, be always available to them and attend to their needs—legal, economic and spiritual,” he added.
He also said that the Church’s migrants ministry is also doing its best to help the OFWs.
“In Kuwait we have three Catholic Churches: Holy Family, St. Theresa and Our Lady of Arabia,” Santos said.
Only recently, Filipina domestic helper Jakatia Pawa was executed for the murder of her employer’s daughter in 2007.