The Senate and the House of Representatives should jointly probe the latest killing of a Filipino domestic helper in Kuwait reportedly by her lady employer, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center said in a statement on Thursday.
Susan Ople, president of the policy center, said the committees on labor and overseas Filipino workers’ affairs of both chambers should particularly look into the capacity of the government and the private sector to “effectively monitor” the conditions of Filipino household workers abroad.
Ople’s reaction came following the death of OFW Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende of South Cotabato who had only been with her employer in
Kuwait for six months prior to the alleged murder incident.
She noted that Villavende’s male employer, who works for the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait, “should have been the first to protect Jeanelyn from the abusive behavior of his wife.”
“By the time he brought the badly beaten OFW to Al Sabah Hospital, it was already too late. If even government personnel behave this way, then how can we expect better and more humane treatment for our OFWs in Kuwait?” Ople said.
She cited another previous case involving an airport employee in Kuwait who had been charged with raping a Filipino domestic worker upon the latter’s arrival at the Kuwait international airport.
To date, the Ople Center said it was still unclear whether the perpetrator in that rape case had been arrested and charged in court.
“A joint and independent probe by Congress would help establish the facts concerning existing monitoring systems for overseas domestic workers. It would also send a clear message to the government of Kuwait that the members of the Senate and House of Representatives strongly condemn the senseless killing of another OFW,” she stated.
One important thing that should also be established in the probe, according to the labor policy advocate, is the culpability of both the local and Kuwait-based recruitment agencies.
“Was there a time when the family sought help from the licensed agency in Jeanelyn’s behalf? This we need to know as part of the legislative probe.”
“How does a recruitment agency monitor each and every domestic worker it deploys to the Middle East? How can a labor attaché be expected to keep track of all OFWs on site given the volume of workers he or she needs to cater to? What are the duties and obligations of foreign recruitment agencies in monitoring our workers onsite? We owe it to
Jeanelyn and other victims of abuse to establish the answers to these questions,” Ople said.
280 WARDS
Ople, who once served as labor undersecretary during the Arroyo administration, also expressed alarm over the number of runaway domestic workers in Kuwait which exceed 200 workers a month. This number, she said, “surpasses the number of welfare cases in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
“We have at least 280 wards staying in the embassy shelter in Kuwait due to various complaints of contract violations and maltreatment. The situation clearly calls for reforms and a thorough review of preventive and protective mechanisms,” Ople added.
She lamented that despite the signing of a bilateral agreement to further protect the welfare and interests of OFWs in the Gulf state, “we continue to have almost the same number of runaway workers, and tragic deaths such as that of Jeanelyn’s.”
In May 2018, the Philippines and Kuwait signed a memorandum of understanding that provides additional protection to Filipino domestic helpers in the aftermath of a diplomatic row brought about by the rescue of a distressed OFW from the household of her Kuwaiti employer.
The diplomatic fracas was further ignited by the DFA’s uploading and distribution of a video showing the actual rescue conducted no less by Filipino diplomats and welfare officers.
“Are we really able to monitor the living conditions of our domestic workers in Kuwait? If not, why do we keep sending our women there?” she said.
Ople said it is now up to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to decide if its going to adopt a recent recommendation to suspend the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait in view of the series of abuses and even deaths. (Roy C. Mabasa)
