THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday announced progress in its negotiations for a bilateral labor agreement with Kuwait.
The agency said it hoped more pragmatic measures could be included so it could recommend its signing and the lifting of the ban on the deployment of new workers to that country.
“Our negotiations with Kuwait have so far been going well, but we need to put in place more practical measures that would ensure the safety and welfare of our countrymen working there,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.
Cayetano praised the officials from the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait and the Department of Labor and Employment for convincing their Kuwaiti counterparts to agree to the conditions laid down by President Rodrigo Duterte shortly after he declared a ban on the deployment of new workers to the Gulf state.
He said the negotiating panel led by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Ambassador Renato Villa were able to secure Kuwait’s commitment that would guarantee Filipino domestic workers a minimum monthly salary of 120 Kuwaiti dinars, rest hours of at least eight hours per day, possession of their passports and mobile phones, and limiting their work to one household.
‘‘As we move forward in the negotiations, we hope to incorporate more practical measures that would better protect our countrymen working there from exploitation and abuse, Foreign Affairs said.
Among the measures Cayetano said he would want to see in the agreement would be the payment of salaries direct to the bank accounts of Filipino workers whenever feasible.
‘‘This will ensure that our countrymen do not get shortchanged and will receive the salary they originally signed up for, he said.