By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
Eighty-seven undocumented Filipinos returned to country last night, part of the at least 500 that Kuwait has agreed to send home.
They returned with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in tow at around 11 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Roque said that Kuwait is shouldering the expenses to send the 500 undocumented Filipinos back home, except those who have pending cases.
“Ang pinakamagandang balita dito, and this is beyond all our expectations, is hindi lang nila pinapauwi ‘yung mga undocumented aliens na more or less mga 500, kasi mga 60 po ang maiiwan dahil may mga iba’t ibang kaso, kung hindi sila pa ang magbabayad ng pamasahe pauwi sa Pilipinas,” Roque said.
The Philippines and Kuwait have signed the agreement protecting Filipino household service workers (HSW) titled “Agreement on the Employment of Domestic Workers between the Philippines and Kuwait.”
President Duterte has said he gave the green light to the signing of the accord after learning that all the conditions he set were included in the agreement.
Duterte said that he demanded that HSWs in Kuwait would be given seven hours of sleep, be allowed to take a day off, be able to cook their food, be allowed to have their own phone, no physical abuse, and their passports not confiscated but instead left with the Philippine Embassy.
The deal also provided for the creation of a 24/7 hotline where they can report abuses and a special police unit would respond to such complaints.
