By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
The government is hoping that authorities will prosecute and punish Nader Essam Assaf, the Lebanese employer of slain overseas Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis in Kuwait in 2016.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday the arrest and added that Assaf and his wife Mona, a Syrian believed to be in her home country, is the subject of a manhunt by the International Police Organization.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque welcomed the development but expressed hope that justice will be fully served.
“We are thankful for the arrest but hoping that they be prosecuted and punished for Joanna’s murder,” Roque said.
Roque said President Duterte has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to summon the recruiters of Demafelis’ to hold them accountable for what happen to her.
Duterte fumed over the death of Demafelis, who was beaten by her employers and stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment. She was found early this month after more than a year.
Duterte slammed the Kuwaiti government for being “oblivious” about the abuses and maltreatment OFWs are experiencing from their employers.
The death of Demafelis prompted Duterte to implement a total non-deployment ban of new OFWs to Kuwait and order the Department of Labor and Employment to facilitate the repatriation of all OFWs who want to go home within 72 hours.
Duterte has visited the wake of Demafelis in Sara, Iloilo.
He said that he will not lift the ban and compel the Kuwaiti government to work on arresting her employers. “Galit talaga ako. Wala nang pupunta doon,” Duterte said.
“It behooves upon the police of Kuwait and the Interpol, there’s a serious crime. Problema nila ‘yan. Basta ako, the ban stays. No deployment of Filipinos, whatsoever, to Kuwait,” he added.