PHILIPPINES: The Manila Times-Apr 27
Considering the highly charged state of relations between the Philippines and Kuwait today, it is best for Filipino officials and bureaucrats to take a deep breath or a long pause before issuing another statement about the relationship. No cause is advanced by the DFA demanding Kuwait to explain its expulsion of our ambassador; nor will the two cents of presidential spokesman Harry Roque remove any hurdle toward improved relations.
It is important to remember that this is not about which side will have the last word or who can appeal more effectively to the passions of domestic audiences.
This is rather a time for serious reflection on Philippine policy concerning Filipino migrant labor in that country, especially domestic helpers. And this is about the future of relations between our two countries, which we both value.
Kuwait said Wednesday it was expelling the Philippine ambassador to Kuwait and recalling its own envoy from Manila.
The move followed the Kuwaiti foreign ministry’s discovery of the release online of videos that showed Philippine embassy staff in the act of helping Filipino workers flee from allegedly abusive employers in the Arab Gulf state.
Kuwait was enraged by the videos; it declared that the rescues were a violation of its sovereignty, straining ties already hit by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s imposition of a ban on Filipino workers moving to the Arab country.
Kuwait ordered the expulsion of the Philippine ambassador despite the issuance of a formal apology for the rescues by Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.
Developments in our relations have been triggered by the discovery of the murder of a Filipino domestic worker, Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer in February.
On April 1, a Kuwaiti court sentenced to death in absentia her employers, a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife, for the murder.
Despite the extreme situation, it is notable that both the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments are persevering today in negotiating and drafting a memorandum of agreement between them regarding the welfare and treatment of Filipino workers in Kuwait. Once the MOA is completed, it will surely be signed.
Realistically, it should be acknowledged that the Philippines has taken a crucial move in extracting a measure of reparation for the injustice done to Ms. Demafelis. The unilateral ban on new deployment of Filipino domestics to Kuwait ordered by President Duterte was clearly called for.
Significant as well was the effort made by the Kuwaiti authorities to actively pursue Demafelis’ killers and bring them to justice. The Kuwaiti government has manifested its keen desire to maintain and improve the labor arrangement between our countries.
Looking at the long term, our governments are now working to forge better terms for Filipino workers. Without doubt, these terms will include a stop to the confiscation of the migrant workers’ passports and cellular telephones by their employers.
Without a doubt also, how we repair and maintain our relationship with Kuwait will impact the entire Gulf region, which employs by far the biggest number of Filipinos in the Middle East. No doubt, Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia are intently observing developments between Kuwait and the Philippines with a view toward applying lessons to their own situation vis-a-vis our workers.
Beyond this, our government should also be thinking about a comprehensive policy on Filipino migrant labor. We, in the Times, know enough about Philippine overseas workers to realize that the awful tragedy that befell Ms. Demafelis is not the last that our country will face. Nor will it cancel outright the surpassing importance of overseas employment to our people and our country.
(First published in The Manila Times – http://www.manilatimes.net/improve-long-term-ph-policies-on-overseas-labor/395243/)
