VIDEOS circulating on the internet showing Philippine Embassy personnel rescuing distressed Filipino domestics in Kuwait have sparked protests from the Kuwaiti authorities, who, from their perspective, are angered by what appears to be a police action initiated and carried out by foreign agents on their soil.
It did not help that the videos, which looked like scenes from an action movie, bore the watermark “Courtesy of DFA,” suggesting that the covert operations had the imprimatur of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Based on information available, acting DFA Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Elmer Cato, had posted the two videos on the official Viber group for reporters covering the DFA.
An accompanying DFA update “on the ongoing rescues of our distressed kababayans in Kuwait” read: “As many as 26 Filipino domestic helpers who have sent out cries for help were found and rescued this way since April 7.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano played down the Kuwaiti protest, calling it a “misunderstanding” and said he hoped to straighten things out in a meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines.
He added that the country’s ambassador to Kuwait, Renato Villa, was able to explain to the authorities that all rescue operations were conducted in coordination with Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior and local authorities.
The assertion seemed illogical. After all, why would the Kuwait authorities protest the rescue operations if they had been conducted, as Ambassador Villa says, in coordination with Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior?
Cayetano justified the embassy’s decision to conduct the rescues on their own—instead of waiting for the local authorities—by saying these cases involved grave danger to the lives of Filipino workers and demanded swift action. In so doing, however, it appeared that the Foreign secretary is endorsing the commission of illegal acts—and trampling on the sovereignty of another nation—as long as the ends justify the means.
Finally, in the videos themselves, we see a blatant and unseemly attempt by DFA personnel to blow their own horn about their “heroic deeds” in service of their countrymen.
Eventually, Cayetano apologized to his “counterpart, to the Kuwaiti government, Kuwaiti people and leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine Embassy, saying the actions were done “in the spirit of emergency to protect Filipinos.”
There are many lessons to be learned from this gaffe.
Kuwait has been found wanting in protecting Filipino workers there. In fact, the discovery of the body of domestic helper Joanna Demafelis—found beaten and strangled inside a freezer in Kuwait—so angered President Duterte that he imposed a deployment ban on the Gulf state.
Both sides should focus on hammering out a new agreement to better protect Filipinos working there. Self-serving acts could only deepen resentment and endanger Filipinos who still work in Kuwait.