MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has implemented a partial deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait following the killing of Filipina worker Jeanelyn Villavende.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello confirmed Thursday the partial implementation of the deployment ban only applies to first-time domestic workers.
“Ang ban will apply doon sa mga bagong madi-deploy pero exempted dyan ‘yung mga skilled workers at mga balik-manggagawa or yung mga nagbakasyon lang at babalik na sa amo nila doon,” Bello said in an radio interview with DZBB.
The Philippine government has previously banned the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait in 2018 after reported deaths of Filipino workers, including Ilongga Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer.
Bello said that, based on initial information from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait, Villavende was allegedly maltreated to death by her female employer, who is currently detained in Kuwait.
Malacañang earlier denounced the death of Villavende, saying the incident was a clear disregard of the agreement signed by both nations in 2018, which seeks to provide better protection for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf state.
“We condole with the members of the family and loved ones of Jeanelyn,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday night.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, said in a separate statement that he would prioritize a bill that seeks to expand the use of legal assistance fund for OFWs.
“The fund will be able to help our abused and maltreated OFWs seek justice like our kababayan who died in the hands of her employer in Kuwait just before the New Year,” Villanueva said.
“We feel that this urgent measure will be a fitting New Year’s gift to our hardworking OFWs who risk their lives and limbs just to give their families in the Philippines better lives,” he added./PN
