By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — A provincial government official has promised to help 31 job-seeking Negrense women allegedly trapped in a “holding area” in Kuwait.
Provincial Board member Renato Malabor of the 5th District said he will get the identities of the overseas Filipino workers, most of whom were from his district.
Malabor said he will also ask help from 5th District’s Rep. Alejandro Mirasol. “(Mirasol) can contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and refer the problem to them,” he said.
A man from Isabela town claimed that his wife and 30 other women on June 15 went to Kuwait where jobs as domestic helpers allegedly await them.
They were hired through Mirben Manpower Placement Agency here.
Since arriving in Kuwait, however, the women were made to stay in a “center” and wait for employers to “buy them,” said the man, who currently works in Metro Manila.
Requesting anonymity to prevent their family in Negros Occidental from worrying, the man said his wife was supposed to be “bought” on Sunday, but, clueless on who her employer would be, she refused.
He said his wife was worried because they were banned from using their mobile phones. She was only sending him text messages secretly, he said.
The man also claimed that his wife’s documents and identification cards have been “tampered with” by the recruitment agency to fast-track their deployment to Kuwait.
Panay News reached the recruitment agency for comment, but all they said was they will refer the matter to their office in Manila./PN
