Bello: Deployment ban to Kuwait a possibility if justice eludes OFW’s death

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. INQUIRER file photo / DEXTER CABALZA

MANILA, Philippines — Following the death of another overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Kuwait, the Philippines could possibly impose a deployment ban in that country anew unless justice is served for the Filipina allegedly killed by her female employer.

“This is another possibility na hindi remote na magde-deployment ban din kami sa Kuwait unless they can show us na mabibigyan ng katarungan yung ating kababayan na si Jeanalyn [Padernel Villavende]. I am ready to do that,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in an interview with dzMM on Wednesday.

(This is another possibility that is not remote, that we would impose a deployment ban in Kuwait unless they can show us justice will be served for Jeanalyn Padernel Villavende. I am ready to do that.)

Citing initial information from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait, Bello said that Villavende was allegedly maltreated by her female employer.

“Pero yun nga, naka-detain naman yung babaeng yon,” the labor chief said, referring to the Filipino worker’s employer.

(But she is currently detained.)

The cause of Villavende’s death has yet to be determined, he noted.

“Wala pa naman detalye. Mino-monitor ng ating labor attaché doon. Very clear yung aking instruction that we have to know the immediate cause of the death of Jeanalyn,” he said.

(There are no details yet. Our labor attaché is monitoring the case. My instruction was very clear that we have to know the immediate cause of the death of Jeanalyn.)

Bello said that Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Hans Leo Cacdac already visited Villavende’s family in Norala, South Cotabato to discuss with them the repatriation of her remains.

“Inaayos na [yung repatriation]. Kumukuha ng kamag-anak na pupunta sa Kuwait para sumama sa  paguwi ng labi ni Jeanalyn,” Bello said.

(We are working on the repatriation. We are asking a relative to come to Kuwait to accompany officials in repatriating Jeanalyn’s remains.)

Earlier, both the labor and foreign affairs department said that recent incident violated the spiritof the agreement the Philippines and Kuwait signed in 2018 seeking to uphold and promote the protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino workers in the Gulf state.

There are currently 300,000 documented Filipino workers in Kuwait, Bello said.

In February 2018, the Philippines imposed a total deployment ban on Kuwait after authorities found inside a freezer the body of domestic help Joanna Demafelis, who was killed by her employers.

The ban was lifted three months later after Manila and Kuwait signed an agreement on the protection of overseas Filipino workers.

The employer of Demafilis was later found guilty of murder.

In May 2018, 47-year-old Ma. Constancia Dayag was reportedly found covered in bruises and with a “cucumber” inside her private part. She was rushed to the Al Sabah Hospital in Kuwait but was declared dead on arrival.

Edited by JPV