Marcos says banning Filipino migrant workers from Kuwait ‘overreaction’

Published: 27 May 2023 - 


The Peninsula Online

Doha, Qatar: Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., President of the Philippines, is not in favor of banning the deployment of Filipino migrant workers to Kuwait, reported the Philippine Star.

Kuwait had suspended visa grants to Filipinos over issues related to labor agreement signed between the two countries in 2018.

Marcos was quoted by the Philippine Star as having said that he does not want to “burn bridges” and that the ban might have been an “overreaction” that “is not right.”

Inquirer, another Philippines news site, reported that the chair of the House committee on foreign affairs had earlier proposed a total deployment ban to Kuwait due to “ugly offenses” against overseas Filipino workers.

Earlier this year, the Philippines stopped deploying domestic workers to Kuwait after the death of Jullebee Ranara, an overseas Filipina worker, in January.

Ranara’s death was what had prompted revisions to the aforementioned 2018 agreement.

Earlier this month, Gulf media reported that an official source in the Kuwaiti Public Authority of Manpower said that the Philippines would resume sending its workers to Kuwait beginning of next June after procedures are finalized and an official delegation visit to the country concludes at the end of this month.

The source confirmed that the Philippine delegation, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prepared special procedures related to the file of Filipino domestic workers and specialized workers.