Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. (From Rodriguez’s FB page)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The latest tragedy befalling Filipino domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende in Kuwait is instructive that a government department focused on overseas Filipino workers should be created, two Mindanao lawmakers said.
According to Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, the proposals for the creation of such department has already been debated by the House plenary.
Rodriguez authored House Bill 5832 that sought the creation of the Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment.
He explained that once created, the agency will take charge of protecting and assisting Filipino workers abroad.
Rodriguez said HB 5832 has already been consolidated with other bills and the consolidated bill has already been debated in the House plenary.
Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun said it is high time to have HB 5832 enacted so that there is an agency solely focused on overseas employment strategy and welfare protection.
Fortun said the country “should already depart from the household service workers market” as this is prone to cases of abuse and maltreatment.
He noted that most of those employed as household service workers “are skilled or very trainable” hence capable of being placed in jibs in the hotel and tourism markets “where work is dignified and decently compensated.”
Fortun called on the Labor department and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to offer government-subsidized training programs to upgrade the skills of overseas workers.
“Our household service workers deserve to be treated with dignity and humanely. It is time for our country to stop sending domestic workers abroad,” he added.
Rodriguez said that “a more comprehensive and protective agreement for our Filipinas in Kuwait should be demanded by our government.”
Meantime, Rodriguez said the Department of Foreign Affairs should secure the best lawyers in Kuwait to prosecute the wife of Villavende’s employer who killed her last Dec. 30.