The Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has approved a resolution imposing a total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait.
It said the total ban was imposed upon the recommendation of DoLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III following the death of OFW Jeanelyn Villavende in Kuwait recently.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra had earlier recommended a deployment ban on OFWs to Kuwait in response to the brutal killing of Villavende and Joanna Demafelis.
During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum, Guevarra said Bello would decide on the issue of the ban and should make the announcement.
“My recommendation is yes to deployment ban. But I do not know if he Secretary Bello would accept it. He would probably make an announcement. It is really up to DoLE,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra said that the death of Demafelis whose body was found dumped in a freezer in February 2018, triggered the signing of a bilateral agreement between the governments of the Philippines and Kuwait on the protection of OFWs.
The death of Villavende was a proof that the Kuwaiti government failed to live up to its commitment, he said. (Leslie Aquino and Rey Panaligan)