Tulfo wants OFW deployment policies to Kuwait reviewed, tightened
Sen. Raffy Tulfo during Senate proceedings. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph Vidal
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Raffy Tulfo calls on the Senate to review the standard employment contract for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait to establish stricter policies for deploying Filipino workers to the Gulf state.
Tulfo filed Senate Resolution No. 448 on Monday asking a committee of the upper chamber “to revisit, re-examine and review the existing bilateral agreement and standard employment contract governing OFWs in Kuwait, with the end view of establishing stricter policies, preventive measures and applicable sanctions or ban in the deployment of OFWs in Kuwait.”
The gruesome death of Jullebee Ranara, a Filipina domestic helper in a Middle Eastern country, prompted him to request an investigation by a Senate panel.
Ranara, 35, was allegedly raped before she was killed by the 17-year-old son of her Kuwaiti employer.
Tulfo called Ranara’s killing “another shock” that rattled the country despite what he referred to as “earnest undertakings of the government” to set safeguards for Kuwait-based OFWs.
Article continues after this advertisement“This is not the first time that a tragedy of such nature, involving our Filipina domestic workers, happened in the Gulf state,” Tulfo said, citing the gruesome murder of OFWs Joanna Demafelis in 2018 and Jeanelyn Villavende in 2019.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Kuwaiti employer to hang for Pinay maid’s slay
A moratorium on sending Filipino workers to Kuwait was imposed after the deaths of OFWs sparked national outrage, but it was ultimately removed.
Tulfo said the change to lift the deployment ban in 2020 was “premised on adopting a more harmonized Standard Employment Contract for Filipino OFWs in Kuwait.”
“Despite the aforesaid lifting of the deployment ban to Kuwait and the use and enforcement of a new Standard Employment Contract, tragedies such as those of Joanna, Jeanelyn, and now, Jullebee’s, remain a perplexing reality,” Tulfo argued.
Several senators like JV Ejercito and Joel Villanueva have reignited the calls to suspend the deployment of OFWs in Kuwait following Ranara’s rape-slay.
READ: OFW rape-slay in Kuwait spurs new calls to halt deployment
But the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it is more inclined to pursue labor diplomacy over a deployment ban, arguing that “social dialogue [is] the all-important first step in resolving labor migration concerns.”
The DMW has already dispatched a team to gather updates on the cases of Ranara and other OFWs in Kuwait and discuss possible reforms with Kuwaiti officials.
