3,000 distressed OFWs coming home from Kuwait — Owwa

A government employee welcomes Filipina workers returning home from Kuwait at Manila International Airport on February 18, 2018.  AFP FILE

More than 1,000 distressed workers from Kuwait are expected to arrive in the country as the repatriation program of the government continues, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) said Monday.

Owwa administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said thousands of workers were in a holding area in Kuwait and were set to be given exit visas.

With this, Owwa expects to welcome at least 1,500 returning overseas Filipino workers in the following days, noting that the number could rise to 3,500 by April.

“We’re expecting at the very least to 1,500. However, considering April 22 pa ang deadline ng amnesty, we are expecting most likely more than 2,500 — siguro papalo yan to 3,000 to 3,500,” Cacdac told Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

Citing the latest data of the department, he said almost 3,000 OFWs already returned to the country since President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a total deployment ban to the Gulf state last Feb. 12

Read: PH issues total ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait

The call of Duterte was made after the body of the slain OFW, Joanna Demafelis, was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.

The alleged recruiter, Agnes Tuballes, surrendered to the Philippine National Police Crime Detection and Investigation Group (PNP-CIDG) and denied that she recruited Demafelis.

“Lumabas ako para linawin ang issue: ‘Yung iresponsableng news na ako ay illegal recruiter. Para akong lumabas na suspect. Sana kinuha n’yo man lang ang side ko bago n’yo ako pinalabas sa TV,” Tuballes said in a press conference at the CIDG headquarters in Camp Crame. /cbb

Read: Alleged recruiter of OFW found dead inside Kuwait freezer yields to PNP / Duterte’s Kuwait deployment ban stays despite arrest of suspects in OFW’s murder