DOLE contemplates another deployment ban of OFWs in other nations

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque (File photo by JOAN BONDOC / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is studying if another ban on the deployment of Filipino workers should also be implemented in other countries, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque revealed on Saturday.

“Pinag-aaralan na rin po ng Department of Labor (and Employment) kung may iba pang bansa na dapat itigil ang deployment ng ating mga mamamayan,” Roque bared in a press briefing in Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte.

(The Department of Labor is also studying if there is a need for other countries to have a deployment ban for our OFWs.)

The presidential spokesman also maintained that the deployment ban in Kuwait stays until justice has been served for the slain overseas Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis, who was found dead inside a freezer in Kuwait.

“Ang desisyon ng Presidente, huwag muna magpadala ng ating mga kababayan sa Kuwait hanggang ‘di pa po nabibigyan ng katarungan si Joanna,” Roque stressed.

(The decision of the President is to temporarily stop sending our countrymen to Kuwait until justice is achieved for Joanna.)

As of this writing, Demafelis’ employers have been arrested by Kuwaiti police in coordination with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) while her two recruiters have surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“Tuloy tuloy naman po ang proseso ng pagkamit ng katarungan, pero sa panandalian po, wala pa tayong deployment sa Kuwait,” Roque said.

(The process of achieving justice in continuing, but in the meantime, we don’t have a deployment in Kuwait.)

READ: PH, Kuwait to hold talks on draft OFW protection pact – labor official

The Kuwaiti government has already expressed willingness to negotiate with the Philippines in drafting a bilateral agreement to protect OFWs in the Gulf state, a DOLE official disclosed.

The agreement may be finalized a week after their scheduled bilateral agreement, DOLE Usec. Claro Arellano said in a press conference. /jpv