Philippines imposes total deployment ban to Kuwait

The body of slain OFW Jeanelyn Villavende at NAIA (Photo from the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has imposed a total deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait, following the death of Jeanelyn Villavende, who was tortured and sexually abused by her employers.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday announced that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board has signed a resolution for a total deployment ban to Kuwait.

The deployment ban was recommended by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) autopsy report showed that Villavende was not just tortured, but also sexually abused by her employers in the Gulf state.

The deployment ban would cover all “newly-hired domestic workers or household service workers, semi-skilled workers, skilled workers and professionals, including crew changes and shore leaves of Filipino seafarers” in Kuwait.

In an exclusive report aired over ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said that starting Thursday, the agency will no longer release Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) to those covered by the ban.

However, applicants who were able to secure their OEC on or before January 15 will still be allowed to fly to Kuwait.

POEA likewise clarified that Filipinos already working in Kuwait may stay to finish their contracts.

An embalming certificate from the Kuwait government has confirmed that Villavende, who was reportedly beaten “black and blue”, died of “acute failure of heart and respiration” as a result of shock and multiple injuries in the vascular nervous system.

However, a separate autopsy by NBI showed that Villavende’s brain, heart, and some internal organs were missing; and that she also suffered multiple, severe traumatic injuries including genitalia injuries –an indication that she was sexually abused.

POEA earlier this month imposed only a partial deployment ban, which covered newly-hired household service workers.

Edited by KGA