MANILA – The government lifted its labor deployment ban to Kuwait after the two governments reached an agreement for better working conditions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Silvestre Bello III said the lifting means newly-hired and returning household workers may now return to Kuwait.
“So now pwede na for deployment lahat ng household service workers, mga semi-skilled workers, mga skilled workers and professionals,” Bello said.
Among the conditions met by the Kuwaiti government was the filing of charges against Jeanelyn Villavende’s employers and the harmonized standard employment contract for overseas Filipino workers.
With the new contract, employers are barred from keeping the passports of their workers; the workers will also be allowed to use their mobile phones after work and they are also entitled to a day off with pay.
Also, working hours and the hours for sleep should be indicated in the contracts and the workers are prohibited to transfer to another employer without the written consent of the Philippine Labor Attaché in Kuwait.
The government imposed a total worker deployment ban to Kuwait in January after the release of autopsy results on household helper Jeanelyn Villavenda, who was allegedly killed by her Kuwaiti employers in December.
The government partially lifted the ban a month later for skilled, semi-skilled workers and professionals after the signing of a bilateral deal on the standard employment contract for Filipino workers.
The country last imposed a total deployment ban on the Gulf state in 2018 after Ilongga migrant worker Joanna Demafelis was slain and discovered inside a freezer at an abandoned apartment there. Her employer was found guilty for her slay./PN
