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Friday, March 29, 2024

DFA to hold talks with Kuwait envoy

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FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Monday the Philippines will try to smoothen out relations with Kuwait that were strained after a video was posted on social media showing embassy staff in the Gulf state rescuing distressed Filipino workers there.

As the last batch of 216 repatriates under the Kuwaiti government’s amnesty program arrived in Manila, Cayetano said he would ask Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Philippines Musaed Saleh Althwaikh for a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao, during which they would convey concerns over the continued maltreatment of Filipino workers.

“How is it abusive if it is done in coordination with your government? And what if it is a life-or-death situation?” Cayetano said in Filipino, when asked about the Kuwaiti complaint against Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa and his team’s recent rescue operation.

But the deputy administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said what the Philippine team did in Kuwait had violated local laws.

“In Kuwait, that is a crime, what our companions at the DFA did. Then they were even shown cheering,” Arnell Ignacio said in Filipino over radio dzBB.

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Ignacio said the Philippine authorities need to coordinate the rescue with Kuwaiti police.

“They knew it’s illegal, that why they said it as a covert operation,” he added.

He also said the circulation of the video on social media would only make things worse for Filipino workers still in Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti government summoned Villa to protest his “inflammatory comments” against the Gulf state through a local newspaper, the Kuwait News Agency said.

He was also summoned over the “inappropriate behavior” of his diplomatic staff, who were caught on video rescuing distressed Filipino workers.

“They are questioning the actions of our embassy in the rescue, and if we followed their law, and if there was an abuse of their diplomatic status,” Cayetano said in Filipino.

Cayetano said Villa “respectfully” responded to the summons and assured the Kuwaiti authorities that the rescue was in line with their laws because they were coordinating with the Ministry of Interior and other local authorities there.

Cayetano said the normal rescue process of the Kuwaiti government takes a bit slower and makes rescuing Filipinos facing life-or-death situations difficult.

“There are some cases where the workers are in grave danger,” he said. “If you learn they have been bloodied or they have been beaten, or that the abuse is continuous, if you wait for the normal process, that will take long… that’s why we have this concept of rescue.”

Cayetano could not say if Villa will be made to return to the Philippines, saying an investigation was ongoing.

At their meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador, Cayetano said he would rase some cases of abuse and maltreatment of Filipino workers, particularly domestics.

In February, the body of  Joanna Demafelis, a Filipino domestic, was found inside the freezer in an abandoned apartment of her employer in Kuwait.

The case and similar incidents angered Duterte, who ordered a complete deployment ban to the Gulf state.

Also on Monday, ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III slammed the uploading on social media, of videos of some Filipino workers being rescued in Kuwait

He said the uploading of the “rescue videos” was “unfortunate and completely unnecessary.”

“We should discourage this as a practice because it puts the lives of the distressed OFW and even her rescuers at risk while exposing our embassy to sanctions by the host government,” he said.

“The privacy of the distressed OFW should also be respected especially in instances where human trafficking and sexual violence may be involved,” he added.

On Monday, the last batch of 216 repatriates under the Kuwaiti government’s amnesty program, consisting of 216 individuals arrived in Manila, bringing the total number of Filipinos repatriated to 5,066 since February.

While the amnesty lapsed Sunday, Cayetano said that all nationals who may be affected by the mass crackdown of Kuwaiti government against illegal workers will be deported, with free tickets to be shouldered by the DFA.

“We will continue to process people for repatriation but it won’t be like the amnesty anymore. It would be regular [deportation],” Cayetano said.

The last batch, including six infants, departed Kuwait and followed the first flight on Sunday, which carried more than 140 Filipino workers.

DFA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said the government has already spent at least PP66.1 million for plane tickets, while P22.5 million was allotted for cash assistance.

The 216 overseas Filipino workers on Sunday all received a PHP5,000 cash assistance from the DFA.

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