President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. ALFRED FRIAS/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he would sell his soul “to the devil” just to give repatriating overseas Filipino workers (OFW) a comfortable life in the Philippines.
“You come home and I will sell my soul to the devil to look for money so that you can come home and live comfortably here,” Duterte said during the oath-taking of newly-appointed government officials in Malacañang.
In his more than 30-minute speech, Duterte vented out his anger over the abuse of some OFWs in Kuwait.
Duterte cited the cases of sexual and physical abuse OFWs in the Middle East, noting a case of a Filipina who was scaled with a flat iron by her employer.
“That’s the usual case. They are raped, abused, used as animals. Hindi talaga makatao ‘yung plantsa,” he said.
(It is inhumane, using the flat iron.)
“Kaya sabi ko (I said), ‘What would be the sin of this Filipina?’ Sabi ko doon sa mga taga-Kuwait (I told those in Kuwait), and I’m repeating it, ‘What have we done to you to deserve this kind of treatment for my countrymen?’” he added.
Duterte also cited the case of Joanna Daniela Dimapilis, the OFW who was found dead inside a freezer. Authorities said she had been inside the compartment for more than a year.
Duterte last month ordered the banning of deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait following reports of sexual, mental and physical abuse that prompt several migrant workers to suicide.
READ: Duterte to Kuwaiti gov’t: Protect our OFWs or deployment ban continues
As many as 10,000 Filipinos who have expired visas and overstayed in Kuwait are expected to apply for repatriation, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday as the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) imposed a complete ban on the deployment of workers to the Arab state.
The Philippine government would shoulder the costs of the migrants’ airfares and penalties for overstaying their visas, the DFA said. /je