By Ben R. Rosario
Notwithstanding Kuwait’s efforts in arresting the two principal suspects in the killing of overseas Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis, the ban on the deployment of workers to the Middle East country must not be lifted until its leaders agree to sign a bilateral agreement with the Philippines, congressmen said yesterday.
In a press briefing called by the House majority bloc, Reps. Ana Siquian-Go (NPC, Isabela), Randolph Ting (PDP-Laban, Cagayan), and Jesulito Manalo (Angkla party-list) said a congressional investigation will be conducted to determine the liability of Philippine labor and foreign affairs officials in allowing Kuwait to continue importing Filipino workers without signing the bilateral pact.
Go, chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the House probe should also cover other countries that have been hiring overseas Filipino workers without making a guarantee to protect and ensure the welfare of OFWs.
Last week, ACTS OFW party-list Rep. John Bertiz disclosed that Philippine government officials have been violating the Migrant Workers Act that makes a bilateral agreement a requisite in the deployment of OFWs.
Kuwait, Bertiz said, has been allowed to receive OFWs despite its refusal to sign any agreement guaranteeing that OFWs will be treated fairly and protected against abuses while deployed in the Gulf state.
Manalo said Bertiz’s revelation indicates that there “is already a prima facie instance” that certain officials of the Department of Labor and other agencies tasked to look after OFW welfare failed to do their jobs.
“Without good faith especially in the light of many incidents of brutality, it is now a must that they should sign a bilateral agreement,” said Manalo, chairman of the House Committee on OFW Affairs.
